


Mr.Mystery

by PandaBlossom



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Blood sugar issues, CEO!Erwin, College, First Time, M/M, Minor Violence, Non-Explicit Sex, Preverts, Protective, Social Anxiety, student!levi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2019-07-27 23:44:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 32,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16229771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaBlossom/pseuds/PandaBlossom
Summary: After losing contact for seven years, Levi happens to work an event for his friend - now CEO - Erwin Smith.They slowly discover their hidden feelings for eachother through many dramatic events.





	1. Remembering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t get this idea out of my head and decided to write it (even though I’m already working on three other stories :D) 
> 
> I plan to update every 2 weeks

“Erwin Smith, son of one of the biggest CEO’s in the publishing community is taking over for his father after news of Mr.Smith recently falling ill. There will be a banquet this Saturday to welcome the new CEO to his father’s company.” 

Levi read the article on his phone with wide eyes. He knew this ‘Erwin Smith’. He helped tutor Levi in highschool. He was a Senior when Levi was a Sophomore.

Seven years later and he was taking over his father’s publishing company. Levi had no knowledge of this at all and didn’t even know Erwin was part of a family like this. 

Not that he should. Him and Erwin haven’t talked since highschool and family or future jobs never really came up that often.

Needless to say, Levi was still proud of him, even if they haven’t talked since highschool. 

Levi thought back to those days. He hung out with Erwin more than he realized when he actually thought about it. Levi didn’t really care for anyone in his grade so he wound up hanging out with Erwin and the other Seniors. 

When graduation came around they said they should still hang out when they were free, but Erwin moved to attend college and they lost contact. They hadn’t heard from eachother since. 

“Levi, are you coming?” 

Levi looked up from his phone and saw Isabel standing in front of him. 

“Yeah, I’m coming.” He said, putting his phone in his pocket and following her to class. They weren’t in the same class, but the classrooms were right next to eachother, so they walked together.

Isabel was Farlan’s younger sister, one of the guys Levi had a class with last year and ended up hanging out with him and his sister a lot. 

“A couple more months and you’re outta here. I still have another year.” Isabel grumbled.

“Enjoy your youth while you still have it. You’ll have to get a job and start adulthood the moment you’re out anyway.” Levi said. 

“So are you already in ‘adulthood’?” Isabel asked making finger quotes.  
“Since you already got a job?” 

“Have to pay of student loans somehow.” 

Levi was a Senior in college while Isabel was a Juinor. Farlan had graduated last year and him and Isabel lived in an appartment right outside the campus. 

Their parents and grandparents saved up for the two of them to go to college so neither of them had the debt to worry about that Levi did. 

He lived with his uncle until he graduated highschool. He then moved into the college dorms when his uncle moved away, wishing Levi luck before cutting his ties with him. 

It was kind of hard not having family like everyone else did, but it’s all he ever knew, so he didn’t really care. He was just grateful to have something until he graduated highschool.

“Yeah, I guess we got lucky not having to worry about those.” Isabel said, kicking a pebble.  
“Speaking of work, you got anything going on?” 

“Not right now. Work’s been kind of slow.” He shrugged. 

“Not too many big events when there are no holidays going on I guess.” Isabel said.

Levi worked as a waiter for a local catering company, but lately work’s been slow and that was a little nerve-racking to think about honestly. 

It was February and Levi would be graduating soon. That meant looking for a place to live, which meant bills to pay and student loans, and having to probably find another job that he might not even have in time. 

“Guess not... I’ll probably need to pick up a few more shifts at the convenient store.” 

“The one near downtown? That place it so sketchy. And the owner is weird. I’m surprised you still have shifts there. You haven’t quit yet?” 

Levi shrugged,  
“Money’s money.” 

“Yeah well, an old pervert is still an old pervert. I’d be careful Levi.” 

“We never work at the same time so it doesn’t even matter.” Levi said, knowing that she knew about the incidents that have happened with the owner before. 

“If you ever actually consider it though, I will be taking you to a pysch ward because that’s when I’ll know you’ve officially lost your mind.” Isabel said. 

“Don’t worry. That disgusting pig should know better by now.” 

“I don’t know Levi. Just don’t let your guard down around him.” 

“Alright. I won’t.” Levi said, then they both said their quick farewells before parting ways to their classes. 

 

◇◇◇

 

“Mr.Smith?” 

“Just Erwin is fine. No need to be confusing me with my father.” Erwin smiled to his assistant

“Erwin,” she corrected herself,  
“The chef that was scheduled to cook for the banquet had to back out due to a family emergency.” 

“Oh. Is he alright?” Erwin asked. 

“He said not to worry and that he apologizes for the last minute change in plans, but he did ask me to show you a list of other caterers he would recommend.” She handed Erwin a list of the caters and a description below each.

“If this isn’t to your liking I can find some others if you’d like.” 

“No, this is fine. Thank you, Petra.” He said, then she excused herself as he looked through the list. 

It was a fairly decent list. Not too many options but not too few either. Most were your average, fancy caviar and oysters kind of caterers, but Erwin was surprised to see a casual food option under one of the names. 

Underground Avenue Catering, was on the list and everything they made and served seemed the most appealing to Erwin and decided to chose that one over the others and their small expensive food. 

Erwin picked up the phone and called.

“Hi, I was wondering if you were by any chance available for Saturday?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	2. Chances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try my best to post every week, but I’m also working on three other stories, so I’ll see what I can roll out for you guys（＾ν＾）

After class, Isabel and Levi walked to the mess hall to get some dinner before he walked her back home. It was then his turn to get back to his dorm. 

He got lucky enough to have a roommate that dropped out last month and he got a dorm to himself for the rest of the semester. Which meant, he could come back to peace and quiet. 

No loud music, no mess, no bringing girls over that could clearly be heard through the walls. It was just him and that’s how he liked it. 

Levi set down his bookbag and pulled out his homework and got started on that before he did anything else. He wanted to get ahead for the weekend so he could work some extra shifts at the convenient store. It wasn’t his favorite place to work, but sometimes the owner would be generous and give Levi a bonus.

Levi knew why. The pervert liked having him there, but Levi had morals and would never do anything like that for money. But the guy did give him his first job so he stayed and picked up a shift every now and then. 

When Levi was almost finished with his homework, he got a call. It was his boss from his catering job.

“Hello?” 

“Levi, it’s Daryl. Are you free this Saturday?” 

“I think so. Do we have a job?” 

“A big one! I need all the servers I can get. It’s for a banquet for some new CEO.” 

Banquet.... this Saturday... for some new CEO...that was Erwin! Levi knew the date sounded familiar.

“For the publishing company?” 

“Yes! They had a dropout and asked us to do the food! Exciting isn’t it?” 

“Of course, but Saturday? It’s Wednesday day you know. We only have a couple of days.” 

“I know, it’s a lot to ask, but I could really use your help setting things up tomorrow and Friday. It’ll be extra pay.” 

Levi already wasn’t going to say no, but now extra pay. There was no way he was backing out of this. 

“I’ll be there. But... are you sure you don’t-“ 

Daryl sighed.  
“Levi, I know you think you’re ready to work in the kitchen, but you still need your degree. You only have a couple more months and-“

“I only have a couple more months. My skills won’t change in a couple of months. I know what I’m doing. I can help.

“We’ve been over this Levi. Not until you graduated can you work in the kitchen. That’s just the way it is here. Besides, I have other things I need you to do.” 

It didn’t have to be that way. Levi just happened to start working for a place that did. 

He was studying in culinary and knew what any Senior taking classes would know, but Daryl was old and liked things to stay the same and hasn’t changed that al chefs that work for him have a cooking degree. 

“Just a few more months, Levi. Besides, I could really use your help with set up and serving. That’s all.” 

It was now Levi’s turn to sigh.  
“Alright. I’ll be there.” 

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” 

Levi set his phone down after hanging up and didn’t really know how to feel. He was glad for the work and extra pay, which meant not having to work at the convenient store, but he was so close to getting his degree and was ready to start working as a chef, not a waiter. 

It was frustrating that out of all the catering company’s around, he chose one that won’t let him cook until he graduates with a degree. 

But he couldn’t complain too much. It was work and at Erwin’s banquet which was pretty cool. He hadn’t seen him in so long that he might not even remember who Levi is, but he could still be proud of Erwin. 

Maybe things will work themselves out. 

 

◇◇◇

 

“Thanks for the ride, Farlan.” Levi said, stepping out of the car with his bag. 

“What time should I pick you up?” He asked.

“Not sure how long I’ll be. If it gets too late I’ll just walk.” 

“No you won’t.” Isabel said, switching from the backseat to the front.  
“Not in the dark. We’ll pick you up. Just call me or Farlan.” 

Levi thought Isabel’s protectiveness was funny. 

“Alright, alright. I’ll let you know when we’re finished. Thanks again for the ride. I’ll see you later.” He said and walked towards the entrance.  
Levi had seen the catering van and assumed Daryl was already there. 

“Hi, may I help you?” The receptionist asked. 

“Yes, I’m here with the catering team for this weekends event.” He answered.

“Oh yes, they were in the kitchen in the banquet hall to your left.” She directed and Levi thanked her before walking that way. 

As he made his way down, he was passed by several men and women in expensive dress clothes and could tell that they were of high authority. He definitely felt out of place in his casual clothes of jeans, sneakers and a sweatshirt. Along with his backpack that had seen better days. 

He tried to ignore those thoughts though, knowing that he was only there to help set up and to wait people at the event. Nothing more. 

“Hey, Levi! I’m going to pull the truck around the back and we can start unloading. The tables are already up but we could start placing chairs too. They’re in the back closet.” Daryl said, pointing across the room to a corner with a large door.  
“It should be unlocked. I’ll be right back.” 

Levi set his stuff down to the side and decided to start with the chairs. He was surprised by how quiet it was honestly. He thought there’d be people everywhere running around getting ready for Saturday. Or at least other workers to help with setup. Was it just him and Daryl?

“Okay, the truck’s right outside the kitchen door so once you’re done with the chairs come help me, alright?” Daryl said. 

“Okay. But where’s everyone else?” Levi asked, carrying the chairs over to the tables.

“It’s just us today. No one else is available ‘till Friday, so I’m glad you were free. Oh and eight chairs to a table.” 

“So, it’s just us? There’s no other people setting anything else up?” 

“Not until tomorrow evening. The banquet isn’t until seven o’clock on Saturday so there’s no need for them yet, but getting the tables set up early will help them out. And the CEO is coming to see if the setup is to his liking.” 

“Erwin is coming today?” Levi asked, not paying attention so how his body language changed when Erwin was mentioned. 

Daryl laughed,  
“You think you’re on a first name basis with this guy. Super rich CEO can be called by his first name by some college student.” 

Levi scowled. Daryl always seemed to pick at Levi for little things like that. It didn’t help that Daryl was in his sixties and Levi was also the youngest worker for his business. He liked picking on the new guys. Even if Levi had been there for almost two years.

“I knew him back in highschool.” 

“Huh, you’re kidding? You knew this guy back in highschool? What was he your babysitter?” Daryl continued to laugh.

“He was my tutor.” Levi said bitterly.  
“We haven’t talked since.” 

“Well no offense kid, but I don’t think Mr.Bigshot would uphold his reputation if he still talked to... kids like you.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Levi asked, not liking how Daryl decided to keep going on about this, but they were already this far. Might as well just keep going with all the comments he had about him, just to get it over with.

“I’m just saying you don’t really... seem to fit in with the crowd he’s in anymore. He’s definitely in a much higher class than you.” 

Old people were not just brutally honest, but also found humor in picking at the younger generation. 

Levi didn’t care much for his comments. It just made him angry that he had to compare how much Erwin has achieved and basically say how little Levi has. 

“Well I’ll be in the kitchen.”  
Typical Daryl. It happened often that he would pick at Levi until he had no more words and would leave just like that for Levi to be alone with his thoughts. 

He didn’t think he was doing bad for his age and the situation he’s been in his whole life, but it made him start questioning what he was really doing when people like Daryl would make those sort of comments. 

‘Whatever.’ Levi tried to tell himself and got back to placing eight chairs at all forty tables... by himself...

 

◇◇◇

 

“The opening will be at seven, drinks will be at seven thirty, an expected speech at eight, then some photos, and dinner at eight forty five.” Petra said, walking with Erwin to see how set up was coming along.

“Sounds excellent. Everything seems to be coming together quite efficiently.” Erwin commented. 

“Yes, the catering team is here setting up now and should be ready to check in.” She said, stopping by the door to open if for Erwin, who said a polite thank you before stepping in. 

He looked out to see all the tables and chairs set up and a few of the tables completed with a table cloth, center piece and other decorations to help it have a complete look. 

“I guess they’re running a bit behind.” Petra said, checking her watch to see the time. 

“It’s alright. It is only Thursday so I’m glad to see that they are planning ahead.” Erwin smiled.  
“Where is the team anyway?” 

“They might be in the kitchen.” She said. 

“Oh, I should go introduce my-“ 

Erwin didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence when the door from the kitchen was opened and out stepped,

“Levi?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	3. Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sick but I have a cake to make today and an event to be at... I just wanna sleep...

“Levi?” Erwin said when out from the kitchen came a short dark haired man, holding a large stack of table cloths in his arms. 

Levi stopped and looked up when he heard his name being called and saw him. 

“Erwin? You... remember me?” Levi asked, setting the table cloths down as Erwin approached him.

“Of course I do. Wow, I haven’t seen you since highschool.” Erwin smiled.  
“How have you been?” 

“I... I’ve been alright.” Levi said, not knowing where the sudden wave of anxiousness came from as he started talking to him. 

Erwin hadn’t changed much... but he really had. He seemed taller and more... put together than a highschool senior. His suit, his hair, his posture. It screamed CEO. He also looked like one of those guys that’d  
be voted ‘sexiest man of the year.’ 

“Good. I’m glad. So you work for this catering company?”

“Kind of... I’m just a waiter. And... I guess table setter now.” 

Erwin looked around at all of the table.  
“Are you the only one here?” 

“My boss is in the kitchen planning the food. I’m the only one out here though.” 

“You’re the only one setting up tables?” Petra asked. 

“Yeah.” Levi nodded.  
“Everyone else is busy. My classes end early on Thursday’s though, so I came in.” 

“That’s a lot of work for just one person. Would you like me to call somebody?” Erwin asked.

“It’s okay. I work better alone I guess. Besides you... probably have more important things to do than get me help.” 

“It’s no trouble. But if you prefer to be alone, then I’ll leave you to it.” Erwin smiled.  
“It was good seeing you Levi. I hope to see you on Saturday.” 

“Yeah... good luck.” He said. 

“Thank you. I hope to see you later, Levi.” 

“Bye... Erwin.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

It was almost midnight when Levi’s phone rang. He walked across the room to his backpack on pulled it out to see that it was Farlan. 

“Hey, Levi. Just wanted to check in on you.” 

“Sorry. I’m still setting up the tables.” He answered.

“Levi, do even know what time it is?” 

“No, I haven’t had a chance to look. Why, what time is it?” 

“11:36. Shouldn’t you be done by now?” 

“Sorry. I had several tables to set up. I’m almost done. I took a short break though.  
I ran into a friend.” 

“And did you eat dinner while you were meeting with your friend?” Farlan asked accusingly.

“Haven’t had a chance.” Levi said, finishing up on the last table as he balanced his phone on his shoulder.

Farlan sighed,  
“Levi, we’ve talked about this before.” 

“And I’m pretty sure I said I didn’t get a chance yet.”

“Well you need to hurry up and finish so you get eat, and when am I coming to get you? It’s getting late and I have work tomorrow? But Isabel won’t let me go to bed until I get you.” 

“It’s fine. I’ll just catch a ride with Daryl if I need to.” 

“Alright. Just shoot me a text when you get back to your place.” 

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.” Levi said, then hung up and finished what he was doing. A couple minutes later someone walked into the room and looked at Levi.

“What are you doing here? We close in twenty minutes.” The man said to Levi. 

“I’m leaving in a minute. Just finishing.” He said. 

“Well hurry it along so I can lock up alright.” The man said, the janitor judging by his jumpsuit.

“Yes sir.” Levi said, placing the last of the decorations on the final table. 

Once he finished he grabbed his backpack and went into the kitchen to ask Daryl for a ride back. That would’ve been easy... if Daryl was there.

“Daryl? Are you still here?” Levi called out to an empty kitchen. He looked out the back window to see if he was there, but not even the van was back there. He must’ve left. 

Pretty unprofessional to leave your employee behind to finish the work, but that was Daryl for you. Once he was finished with his work, he was outta there. 

But since Levi already told Farlan he didn’t need a ride, it looked like he was walking home. He’d just have to make sure Isabel wouldn’t find out. 

He did however leave through the front door instead of out the back, just to be safe. 

“Yes sir, I have the rough draft ready.  
...  
I didn’t think it needed to be sent until tomorrow.  
...  
By midnight?!  
...  
I can be home in five minutes if you just give me a couple minutes to leave and I’ll send it the moment I get home.  
...  
Thank you sir, I’ll be sending it shortly.”

Levi couldn’t help but listen in on the conversation he heard Erwin having in the other room. He didn’t realize he was just standing there until Erwin hurried out of the room with an arm full of things and almost ran into him.

“Oh, Levi. Sorry, I almost didn’t see you there. Is everything alright?” 

“Huh? Oh yeah. I was just leaving.” He said, feeling embarrassed for basically eavesdropping on Erwin. 

“Oh, okay. I’ll walk you out.” Erwin offered.

“...sure.” Levi said, surprised Erwin could be so calm after the phone call he was just on. 

“Alright. Shall we?” Erwin said, letting Levi walk ahead. 

“Thanks.” 

“It’s no problem. So... you parked at a meter or in the parking garage?” Erwin asked.

“Oh, I don’t have a car. I’m walking back to the college.” Levi answered, gesturing to the direction he was going in.

“On the other side of town? Levi, it’s almost midnight. You shouldn’t walk back by yourself.” 

Levi scoffed.  
“You sound like my friends.” 

“We’re just looking out for you.” 

“I know. Classic Erwin.” He said.

“You’re right.” Erwin chuckled.  
“I did always drive you home after school didn’t I.” 

Levi shrugged.  
“I guess you did... that seems like so long ago.” 

“Seven years is a while, isn’t it... I can’t believe it’s been that long.” 

“I know...” 

Erwin glanced down at Levi with a knowing look.

“What?” Levi asked.

“Let me take you home.” Erwin said.

“Huh? Why?” 

“Well first, I don’t want you walking home by yourself, and second... it’ll be like old times.” 

Levi was confused. He hadn’t talked to Erwin in seven years and not only does he remember him, but he now wants to do things like ‘old times’. 

“You don’t have time to go out of your way for me. You have to get home.” 

“Oh you’re right.” Erwin said, checking his watch on his free arm to look at the time.  
“Well, if you have some time, you could ride with me. I’ll take you back once I’m finished. Either way, I’m not letting you leave by yourself.” 

“So I don’t really have a choice, do I?” 

“Not really.” 

Levi sighed. This was just how Erwin was back in highschool. He really hasn’t changed a bit has he?

“Fine. I guess I’m going with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	4. Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last line in this chapter sounds super creepy, but it’s supposed to be cute. 
> 
> I also almost forgot about posting this...（＾ν＾）

“Ready to go?” A man asked, standing by an expensive black car that shined in the street lights.

“You have your own chauffeur?” Levi asked.

“Kinda, but we used to just call him Mike.”

“That’s Mike?!” 

“It is. We work together now.” 

“Levi?” Mike asked when they got closer to the car.

“Yeah, it’s me. Long time no see, Mike.” Levi said, surprised to see both Erwin and Mike the same day. Both standing tall and professional in their expensive suits.

With Mike being Erwin’s best friend, he and Levi got to know eachother fairly well back in highschool. 

“Good to see you after so long, Levi.” 

“You too.” 

“Levi will be riding back home with me, then I’ll be taking him home.” Erwin said. 

“Sounds good.” Mike nodded, then proceeded to open the car door for the both of them. 

“After you.” Erwin said, letting Levi enter the car first. 

Once in, even though Levi knew them both, he felt out of place. The two older men in their expensive suits and were completely put together even though it was practically midnight. 

Levi however was covered in half a day of school and another half of work. He cared but... not that much. Once the car started moving, the drearyness of the day, it being late, and him not having eaten dinner, he felt exhausted. 

“You alright, Levi?” Erwin asked. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just tired.” He said, trying not to let the drowsiness get to him.

“Well, we’ll be there in a couple minutes and once I finish I can take you back to your dorm.”

“You’re still in college, Levi?” Mike asked from the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, senior year. I graduate in June.” He said in a tired voice.

“What are you majoring in?” Erwin asked, looking through the stack of papers he brought with.

“Culinary.” Levi answered.

“How lucky for you to work for a catering company.” 

Levi shrugged.  
“I’m only a waiter until I get my degree. He won’t even let me near the kitchen until then.”

“Really? Why?” 

“He’s old school I guess. Or old enough to feel like I need a degree to know what I’m doing. I guess a piece of paper is more important than experience to him... I probably won’t be staying there too much longer.” 

“I’m sure you’ll find something if that doesn’t work out. If not... you could always work for me.” 

Levi gave Erwin a confused look.  
“I don’t think someone who’s getting a degree in culinary could work for a company like yours.” He said. 

“I could always find you something that would suit up. Just let me know.” Erwin smiled.

Levi... felt funny. Not really like car sickness or anything, but more like... his stomach had butterflies when he saw Erwin’s smile. It was... strange. And definitely not okay. 

“Yeah... thanks...” Levi said, turning his gaze away. 

“You can drop us off at the front.” Erwin said, which Levi assumed meant that they were coming up on his building. 

They pulled up to the front and exited the car. 

“You can go home. I’ll take care of getting Levi back to his dorm.” Erwin said to Mike.

“Are you sure? I can take Levi back now.” 

“His college is on the other side of town, so don’t worry about it. Besides, I’m the one who offered.” 

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then. See you later, Levi.” 

“See ya, Mike.” Levi waved before Mike pulled away. He then followed Erwin into his building.  
The really big, high class building that had security everywhere and made Levi a little anxious. Again with feeling out of place. 

“Good evening, Mr.Smith.” One of the security guards said, accessing the elevator for him and selecting his floor for him. 

“Thank you, Jackson.” Erwin said, stepping into the elevator with Levi. 

“Have a nice night.” 

“You too.” 

The doors closed and Levi watched Erwin’s demeanor change from calm to anxious when he checked his watch.

“What time is it?” Levi asked. 

“11:56. I gotta have this draft emailed in four minutes.” He said then the doors opened to Erwin’s apartment and before Levi could get another word in, Erwin quickly step out and hurried in.

Levi followed and correction, it wasn’t an appartment, it was a complete penthouse. The elevator opened into his penthouse. His big, expensive penthouse.

Levi shouldn’t have expected any less from a now CEO, but it was still pretty surprising to see. 

“The living room’s right over there. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll be back as quickly as possible.” Erwin said before going into what Levi guessed was his office. 

He didn’t need to be told twice where he could find somewhere comfortable. Levi took his shoes off at the entrance and walked over to the living room and sat down on the large leather couch that was pointed towards a glass fireplace, while besides the couch was a ceiling to floor, glass window that had an amazing view of the city. 

Erwin Smith wasn’t just ‘the guy who tutored Levi in highschool’. He was now ‘Erwin Smith, super rich CEO of a publishing company’.

Levi couldn’t even believe he was sitting in a CEO’s penthouse. And he actually knew him. It was all so crazy and happened so fast. 

One minute he was setting up tables, the next, he was sitting in his formers friends home on his expensive leather couch. And a very comfortable one at that. 

Levi knew Erwin was only going to be a few minutes, and even though his head told him no, his body told him that he should totally lay down and rest. So he did.

He was actually surprised he lasted this long. Especially after school, work, and not eating dinner, which was apparently bad for him since he had some ‘blood sugar’ issue or something like that. 

At least that’s what he’s been told, but he’s never passed out or anything so he really didn’t care. He could skip a meal here or there and the only bad thing about it was the scolding he’d get from Isabel and Farlan.

Speaking of them, Levi had to remember to text Farlan when he got back, whenever that was.

Levi looked above the fireplace to a giant clock and looked at the time. It was now 12:07 and Erwin was still in his office. He probably got caught up in work so Levi assumed they wouldn’t be leaving for a while, so he decided to at least rest his eyes while he waited. It shouldn’t be too long. 

 

◇◇◇

 

“Yes sir, sorry for the last minute deadline. I will try and be more efficient. Goodnight sir.” 

Erwin hung up the phone and let out a tired sigh. He was completely new at this whole CEO thing, and even though he was getting the hang of it, it was still exausting to learn everything. 

He sat back in his chair for a couple of minutes and closed his eyes. Today was a busy day and he was glad for it to be over. 

Once his couple minutes of rest were up, he quickly organized his desk so he wouldn’t have a mess in the morning, then walked out. 

He walked towards his bedroom when he saw shoes by the entrance and he remembered that Levi was still there. He’d almost forgotten and quickly went to the living room to let him know he was ready. 

When he got there however, he didn’t see anybody.

“Levi? Are you in here?” He asked, looking around for the shorter man. Erwin caught a glimpse of the clock and realized that it was 12:28 and that he didn’t think he’d be on the phone for that long. 

He sighed and turned around to go check another room for Levi when he saw him curled up on the couch. Asleep. 

Erwin’s heart couldn’t help but melt at the sight of Levi. He really hadn’t changed since highschool and Erwin didn’t realize how much he’d missed him. Levi was perfect. 

Erwin quietly walked over to get a blanket and drape it over Levi’s body. There was no point in waking him at this time, so he let him sleep and would take him back in the morning, but for now, he let Levi rest.

“Goodnight, Levi.” Erwin said, running his hand through Levi’s soft hair.  
“I’ve missed you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	5. Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to update every two weeks instead.
> 
> I’m also really scared for the next SNK chapter...

Levi woke up... freezing. He knew he kept his dorm cool, but it was never this cold in the morning. It wasn’t until he rolled over that he noticed he wasn’t in his dorm... where was he?

He quickly shot up and looked around before remembering where he was. He was at Erwin’s.

Levi quickly rubbed his eyes to wake up so he could be ready for Erwin to take him home, but when he turned to face the window he saw that it was morning.

“What happened?” He asked himself in a quiet voice. Levi bent down and opened his backpack to get his phone.

It was 5:54 and his alarm was about to go off. He then looked at the several notifications. Most of them were from Isabel and Farlan. The others were from school letting him know that classes were cancelled due to the heavy storms they’re supposed to be getting today.

He then checked the many texts and saw the several missed calls from Farlan and Isabel.

‘Did Daryl give you a ride?’

‘It’s mid night Levi.’

‘Did you eat dinner? You’ll get sick if you don’t.’

‘Are you back?’

‘Why aren’t you replying?’

‘Did something happen?’

‘Levi did you walk home?’

‘Answer Levi!’

‘Did your phone die?’

Levi stopped there and assumed the rest were pretty much the same thing from the both of them. He did however check and see if his phone was dying and it was. He hadn’t charged it since before he left and it only had 7% remaining.

He quickly texted them both and told them he stayed with a friend before turning his phone off Incase he needed it.

Levi then sat back against the couch and let himself wake up a little more. Even though he slept pretty well, he still felt tired.

The elevator then dinged and opened. Levi looked over and saw Erwin walk in while wearing gym clothes and was covered in sweat. Levi’s stomach had butterflies again.

“Morning, Levi.” He said, walking into the living room.  
“Did you sleep well?” He asked.

“Yeah... sorry about that. I didn’t realize.” He said, leaning forward to stand up.

“It’s alright. I didn’t expect to be that long and once I came to get you, you were asleep, so I didn’t want to bother you. I hope that was alright.”

“It’s fine. I guess... I should go. You’re probably really busy and don’t need me in the way.” Levi said, grabbing his backpack and went to walk towards the elevator when he felt light headed and fell forward.

“Woah.” Erwin said, quickly jumping forward to catch Levi.  
“Are you alright?” He asked in a concerned voice.

Levi grabbed onto Erwin’s arm and started breathing quickly. He felt sick to his stomach and his head was swimming.

Erwin helped Levi sit back down and kneeled in front of him. His face showed worry.

“Are you sick?” Erwin asked, gently reaching up to feel Levi’s forehead and cheeks.  
“You’re not warm, so that’s a good thing.”

“I’m not sick...” Levi said.

“Is it your blood sugar?”

“What?” Levi asked,  
“How did you know about-“

“I remember in highschool. The nurse always had to make sure you were eating.” Erwin said, not letting go of Levi’s arms even when he was sitting on the couch.  
“Is it low now?”

Levi shrugged.  
“I don’t know. Haven’t really paid attention.”

Erwin sighed.  
“When’s the last time you ate anything.”

Levi felt ashamed to answer because Erwin seemed genuinely concerned about him, but he wasn’t going to lie, because he knew that was probably the reason he couldn’t walk straight.

“Yesterday at lunch.” He didn’t look at Erwin when he answered because he didn’t want to see the look is disapproval on his face.

Erwin then gently let go of Levi and walked away. Levi assumed he was probably too angry at him to even look at him and was going to tell him to leave. Erwin didn’t have time to worry about him.

That however wasn’t the case when Erwin came back and held a banana out to Levi.  
“Here, until I can make breakfast.”

“Y-you don’t have-“

“Levi... just take it.”

He didn’t protest when he saw the look Erwin was giving him. He was serious but concerned.

“Thanks...” Levi said taking the banana, then Erwin went back to the kitchen asking,  
“Are eggs okay for breakfast?”

“Whatever’s fine...” He answered before eating the banana he was given. It was like back in highschool. The nurse would always make sure Levi had a banana or peanut butter crackers since they had sugar, with him through out the day. He remembered why when he finished his banana.

He instantly felt better and wasn’t light headed anymore. These days he’d occasionally skip lunch if he was too busy, but generally didn’t skip meals. Yesterday was the first time he’d gone that long without eating.

“Here.”

Erwin had come back and handed Levi a glass of orange juice and took the banana peel so he could throw it out.

“Breakfast will be done in a minute. Do you need some help?” Erwin offered to help Levi to the dining table.

“I think I’m okay.” Levi said, carefully standing up and following Erwin. He held onto anything nearby as he walked, just in case. And Erwin watched him closely when he had nothing to hold onto.

When they got to the dining room, Erwin pulled out a chair for Levi and made sure he was alright before walking behind the counter to the kitchen.

“Does this happen often?” Erwin asked.

“No. I just didn’t get a chance to eat yesterday.”

“You should’ve at least gotten something small, Levi.”

Levi scoffed,  
“You saw that I wasn’t finished until closing. I didn’t really get much of a choice either. I was just going to eat when I got back home.”

“You could’ve said something. I would’ve made sure you ate.”

“I didn’t think I’d end up falling asleep on your couch.”

“Still, Levi, you should always carry something with you in case of times like that.”

“Alright old man. I’ll get something to carry next time I go shopping.”

“And when will that be?” Erwin asked, setting a plate of food in front of Levi, along with one for himself as he took a seat.

“The next time I get paid. Whenever my boss decides to do that.” Levi said, taking a bite of his food.

“Will he be paying you after the banquet tomorrow?”

Levi shrugged again,  
“Depends. Sometimes it’ll take a couple of weeks before he gets around to it.”

“That doesn’t sound right, Levi.”

“I don’t have as much priority to get paid since I’m younger or something like that. Also why do you keep saying my name?” Levi asked this time.

It was now Erwin’s turn to shrug.  
“It’s a nice name.” He smiled, and Levi had to turn away to avoid Erwin seeing the sudden blush to spread across his cheeks. It was such a simple line... but it made Levi’s heart race.

“Well, if you ever decide to leave and need a job, you could come work for me.”

“I think we’ve been over this, Erwin. I’m not exactly the kind of person you’d hire for your company. And I’m getting a degree in culinary.”

“Maybe you could be my personal chef.” Erwin said.

“You’re not serious.” Levi said, taking a bite of his eggs that proved his point wrong. They weren’t exactly bad... but they weren’t good either.

“I think I made my point.” Erwin smirked.  
“I haven’t done a lot of cooking in my day as you can tell.”

“It’s alright. I guess I can’t complain since you’re helping me.”

“It’s no problem. I just want to make sure you’re alright.” Erwin said, taking his plate to the sink.

“Thanks... by the way. I’m sorry for putting you out.” Levi said, finishing up his food.

“It’s no problem. I’m glad. We got to catch up after so long.”

“I guess. I also got a chance to find out my former tutor is now a CEO of this big company.” Levi smirked.

“Yeah.” Erwin chuckle.  
“I guess I am.”

“So... uh... what’s that like?” Levi asked.

“It’s alright... I guess. Kind of unexpected.”

Levi stood up and pushed his chair in, then walked over to the counter and leaned against it, listening to Erwin.  
“How?”

“Well...” Erwin said, scratching the back of his neck.  
“My father kind of sprung it on my last minute. I didn’t even know he was sick.”

“Oh.” Levi said, not knowing how to respond.

“Yeah... I just didn’t think I’d be this high in the company this fast. I’m not even 25 yet... but... I didn’t want to let my father down... I’m just afraid that’s what I’m going to end up doing.”

“I highly doubt that.” Levi said, completely straight faced and honest.  
“You’ve been successful in everything you’ve done, you’ll be successful doing this too.”

Erwin looked down a smiled.  
“Well... thanks... Levi. That really means a lot coming from you.”

Levi taken aback by what Erwin said. He was just saying how he felt and Erwin was probably told that multiple times before... so it was nothing new... right.

“Y-Yeah... no problem.”

“I uh... I guess I should go get showered so I can bring you home like I promised. You know, before the storm comes in.”

“Okay. I’ll... wait here.” Levi said, and Erwin walked into the bathroom while Levi wandered back into the living room.

He checked his phone and saw that it was dead, so he figured he’d have to stop by Isabel’s and Farlan’s place and explain what happened in person so they wouldn’t freak out.

He then relaxed against the couch and closed his eyes. The amount of emotions he’s felt since he laid eyes on Erwin yesterday had mentally exhausted him.

He’s not only never felt so many emotions at once... but so many he’s never even felt before.

This man was making Levi feel like a mess... the only problem... he was actually enjoying it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	6. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12-18-18
> 
> I’m so behind on writing my other stories! This one is up to date for now, but it’s been a rough week. 
> 
> With being sick all last week, then getting that weekend to spend time with my family dog before having him put down. 
> 
> But the next day we got a new puppy who’s almost exactly like our older dog. I’m really gonna miss him but our new dog is so sweet and definitely meant for my family （＾ω＾）

“So, does Mike drive you everywhere?” Levi asked as they stood on the curb outside Erwin’s apartment building.

“Yeah. Yesterday I was going to drive you myself, but since that didn’t work out...”

“Is he just your chauffeur?”

“Well, I guess he’s kind of also my bodyguard, since I need one of those now.”

“Really?” Levi asked.

“I guess when you’re in charge of a multi-million dollar company, you need to take extra precautions. I’m just glad Mike’s my friend and not some stranger.” Erwin said, waving to Mike as he pulled up to the sidewalk.

“That’s nice that it worked out for the both of you.” Levi said.

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice.” Erwin smiled, opening the door for Levi to get in before followed in after.

“Good morning.” Mike said, looking at them both through the mirror.  
“So where are we headed?” He asked.

“Um, back to my college... well, actually, can you drop me off a little bit before we actually get there. I need to stop by my friend’s place.”

 

◇◇◇

“Is there anything else I should bring?” Isabel asked as she carried her bag down the stairs. 

“Believe me. Anything you forget will probably be at the house so I wouldn’t worry too much.” Farlan said, having already finished packing.

“I got it.” Isabel called to Farlan when there was a knock at their door soon after she came downstairs.

“Who is it?” Farlan asked from the other room.

Isabel looked through the peephole and saw their familer dark haired friend.

“It’s Levi!” She said, then opened the door for him.

Levi didn’t get a chance to say or do anything before he was pulled into a crushing hug. Isabel was small but very strong.

“Where the heck were you?! We tried calling and texting and you didn’t answer until this morning!” She said, then Farlan came into the room.

“Sorry. Plans got a little changed. An old friend of mine let me stay at his place.” Levi said, gesturing to the car he had just gotten out of.  
He waved to let Erwin and Mike know that he was alright and they could leave, which they did right after.

“That’s your friend? The one in the expensive shiny car?”

“Yeah, I knew him back in highschool.” Levi said, stepping inside and taking his coat off.

“Well does Mr.Mystery have a name?” Farlan asked with a smirk.

“His name is Erwin, if you must know.”

“Is Erwin rich?” Isabel bluntly asked, earning a nudge from Farlan.

“I guess you could say that... it doesn’t matter though, it was just for the night.” Levi said, using one of their chargers to plug his dead phone into.

“Why’d you go home with him anyway? What happened with Daryl?” Farlan asked as the all walked to the living room to sit.

“I didn’t realize he had left.”

“He left while you were still there?” Isabel asked.

“Yeah.”

“Levi, this isn’t the first time he’s done that to you.” Farlan said.  
“He shouldn’t leave until his employees have finished.”

“It’s not like I can change what happened.” Levi said.

“But something could’ve happened and he’d be held responsible if it did.”

“Well like I said, I can’t change what happened so just drop it.” Levi said, not feeling up to arguing.

“Sorry, Levi.” Isabel said, leaning against him.  
“We’re just looking out for you.”

“I know... but you don’t need to worry that much just because something happened once.”

“Okay, we’ll try not to worry as much, alright? Now, are you staying here to wait out the storm?” Farlan asked, walking into the kitchen to start the tea kettle.

“I probably have to go back to help before my shift down at Martin’s.”

“You said you weren’t working there this weekend.” Isabel said.

“I also said I need to pull some extra shifts. I don’t know how much Daryl is paying me or when, so I’ll be at Martin’s.”

Neither Isabel or Farlan liked the Levi worked there. Martin was a perverted old man who tried to hit on Levi every time he worked. Levi only stayed because Martin payed him well because he liked him.

“Well as much as I hate to say it,” Farlan said with full sarcasm,  
“You probably won’t be going anywhere.  
You saw the college was closed, right? The storm is supposed to be nasty.”

“Will it be over by tomorrow?” Levi asked.

“Should. It’s supposed to only be bad for a couple hours. Might knock out the power some place but it’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“Are you gonna stay and hang out with us?” Isabel asked.  
“We have some things set up incase the power does go out, like games and candles and fun stuff.”

“I guess. I’d just be in my dorm all day anyway.” Levi said.  
“But don’t you have work?” He asked Farlan who was getting them all tea.

“I called out because of the storm and me and Isabel are going home for the weekend.”

“I didn’t know that. When are you leaving?” He asked, accepting the tea from Farlan.

“It was last minute plans. Small family reunion I guess. We leave tomorrow morning and will be back Sunday night.” Isabel said.

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve gone home. Everyone wants to see us.” Farlan said.

“Once I graduate we’re thinking about moving back to our hometown.” Isabel said.

Levi... felt a sense of loneness wash over him when she said that. He didn’t realize that they were the only people he really ever hung out with or cared about him. They were his family. And now they might leave.

“We’ll come back and visit you all the time!” Isabel said, which Levi assumed meant she had seen the way he reacted. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks. That’s means a lot.” He said, taking a sip of his tea.

“Well you mean a lot to us.” Farlan said, taking a seat on the other side of Levi.  
“And we’re not just gonna leave you.”

“Yeah, and maybe... you can come with us! You could get a job there and meet our family and we could see eachother all the time!” Isabel said, making her own fantasy plans for the future.

“Maybe.” Farlan laughed, “And besides, we haven’t made any final plans yet and you still have another year.” He said to Isabel.

“I know, I know, plans could change. But I like where we grew up. And I still want to work in that veterinarian office near our old school.”

“You’re still on that?” Levi teased, taking another sip of his tea.

“Yes! And you know that!” She siad.

“Okay, okay. But seriously, we’re not just gonna leave you high and dry, Levi. You’re our family and we won’t just leave you alone.”

“Yeah, we mean it.” Isabel added.

Levi tried to hide his smile, but it was hard. His friends really cared and looked out for him. They were the closest thing he had to a family.

“...thanks.” He said.

“Of course-“ Isabel was cut off as the lights went out after a loud clap of thunder from outside.

“Well...” Farlan said,  
“At least we got our tea before the power went out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	7. Forward

The storm was bad, but not terrible. They lost power and it didn’t come back until the next morning and there was water and mud and debris everywhere from the rain and wind.

“The roads are clear but everything else still needs to be cleaned.” Farlan said, looking outside the next morning.

“Should we be able to leave?” Isabel asked.

“Looks like it. Do you have everything?”

“Yep.” Isabel said, holding up her duffel bag of clothes for the weekend.

“You wanna just pick up some breakfast on our way out?” Farlan asked, checking his watch to look at the time.

“Sure. But what about Levi?”

“What about him?”

“He’s still asleep. I didn’t want to wake him.”

“Really? He’s usually up by now.”

“The past couple of days probably wore him out.”

“Should we wake him before we leave?” Farlan asked.

“No way. Let him sleep. We’ll leave him a note to lock the door when he leaves.” Isabel said, grabbing some paper to write down what they wanted Levi to do.  
“I’ll leave it on the counter.” She said, and when she finished she came back and grabbed her bag.

“Ready?”

“Let’s go.”

 

◇◇◇

 

Levi groaned when he rolled over and open his eyes. It was late morning - or closer to afternoon - when he woke up.

He hadn’t slept that long in a while. It wasn’t too surprising though when the night before he slept at Erwin’s and got only a couple hours and spent all day with Farlan and Isabel, who could be exausting.

Levi looked over at the clock on the nightstand of the guest room and read ‘10:46’.

Thank god it was Saturday and he didn’t have school or work, until later. Or at least that’s what he thought when he checked his phone.

He had several messages from Daryl that Levi chose to ignore and instead just call him to see what he wanted.

“Levi! I’ve been messaging you for hours!”

“Sorry, I was asleep.” He said groggily, regretting calling Daryl and hearing his stupid voice so early in the morning.

“Well I need you down here! You were supposed to set up more tables and we need more chairs at each.”

“I thought all the tables they needed were already up?”

“I left a note in the kitchen that said we needed more.” Daryl said.

Levi wanted to tell him that he was already there until midnight the other day and didn’t even know about the note which he could’ve just told Levi in person, but he didn’t, because Levi still needed to get paid, so he kept quiet.

He sighed,  
“I’ll be there after I shower and-“

“You don’t have time for that! I need you down here right now!”

“... okay... I’ll be there soon.” Levi said, and hung up before Daryl could complain anymore.

He got out of bed and quickly made it before grabbing his phone and heading down the narrow stairway in Farlan and Isabel’s place.

He assumed they had already left and he was alone in the appartment. He went into the kitchen to grab something quick to eat before heading out. He saw a note from Isabel and it said,

‘See you when we get back! Good luck today!  
P.S please lock the door.’ Isabel.

 

Of course he was going to lock the door when he left, so he assumed Isabel just wanted to wish him luck without waking him. Levi walked over to the their pantry and grabbed something he could carrying in his bag and a peice of fruit before heading out. He didn’t have time to make himself tea since he didn’t want to be any later or he’d get an ear-full from Daryl.

Once he left, and locked the door, he ran down the street that was covered in soaking wet and dirty debris from the storm. The roads were clear, but that’d only help him if he had a car. The sidewalks were covered and made it difficult to get there without getting mud on his shoes.

By the time he arrived, he had flung a good amount of mud and dirty water from his shoes onto his pants and was a mess. He already hadn’t had a chance to shower since before he started set up on Thursday and was now covered in mud.

‘Maybe I can shower before tonight.’ He thought to himself as he wiped his shoes off on the doormat and walked in.

Levi saw how everyone was looking at him with disgust as he walked through towards the kitchen.

“Are you an employee?” A man asked, stopping Levi from walking any further.

“I’m a waiter for the catering company.” He answered.

“Employees enter from the back door, not the front. I will be contacting your boss about this and-“

“Levi! What are you doing?”

Levi looked passed the taller man and saw Daryl over be the entrance of the hall.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that-“ Levi tried to say so he could leave, but was approached by Daryl soon after.

“There isn’t time for horsing around when you are already late and have a job to do.” Daryl said.

“I’m sorry sir, but I was just addressing to him that employees do not enter from the front door.”

“Sorry. You’d think he’d know this by now. He’s not the brightest of workers. Now he going.” Daryl first said to the man then to Levi, who rushed off before he could be ridiculed anymore.

He had just barely woken up and was already feeling overwhelmed. It was going to be a long day.

 

◇◇◇

 

“..-this by now. He’s not the brightest of workers.” Mike overheard someone say, and peaked his head out into the hall to see what the commotion was about.

He didn’t see much, but he caught of glimpse of a short man with dark hair, running into the banquet hall with his head down and hands tightly holding onto his backpack straps.

“I apologize for his behavior. I don’t plan on keeping Levi employed for much longer. He’s too much of a discipline case. College students...” Mike overheard the older man say and the younger but taller reply,

“I see. Let me know if he’s causing you anymore trouble and I will see if there’s someone I can get to help.”

“Thank you.”

‘So that was Levi.’ Mike thought to himself, and decided from there on out that he’d keep an eye on Levi tonight along with Erwin. He hadn’t seen Levi in years and didn’t talk with him much, but he had a feeling Levi and Erwin cared about eachother on a deeper level than friendship.

And if they did, that meant Erwin would be upset if he found out something happened to Levi, so he decided it would be helping out his friend and former friend.

“Is everything alright, Mike?” Erwin asked from where he sat at a desk and was filling out paperwork in a barrowed office space for the couple of days.

“No, sir. Just overheard someone.” He replied.

“Well, I’ll be here until I have to make an appearance for tonight, so feel free to check in on what’s going on.”

“Will do.” Mike said.

“Hanji will be here shortly. You don’t have to be here for that.”

“Understood, but I’ll wait until she gets here.”

“That sounds fine.”

Erwin had told Mike numerous time that he didn’t have to be so formal, but Mike knew that even though him and Erwin joked around in highschool all the time, that he now had to take his job seriously, even if Erwin was a friend.

 

◇◇◇

 

Maybe there’d be other there to help out for such a big event that was going to take place in so few hours. One would think at least.

But much to Levi’s dismay, he was stuck setting up more tables and chairs by himself, while the rest of the employees were in the kitchen helping with food that wasn’t even close to being needed to be served.

There were several more tables and chairs to be set up, along with the decorations and he had to do it all by himself.

It was lunchtime when Levi heard the other in the kitchen head out, while he was told that he needed to finish setting before he took any breaks and should’ve been done Thursday.

Thursday when his boss didn’t say anything about leaving and Thursday when if he kept going he’d get locked in the building that closed minutes after he was finally finished.

At least he had gotten a break yesterday, but with the power being out and not being able to shower, cook a hot meal, or do either that morning because he was late, Levi was still feeling exhausted.

“Wow! It’s looking great in here! I like the decoration you picked out.”

Levi looked up and saw Erwin, Mike, and a lady with crazy brunette hair with a another man with dirty blond hair next to them.

“It’s coming together nicely. I’m very excited for tonight.” Erwin said.

“Who wouldn’t be? I mean, you get to take over as CEO so early into the company. Most people could only dream of that.” The lady said.

“I know, Hanji... it’s a little hard to accept though when even though I’ve always wanted this job... and being told I’m only here because of my father is a bit of a reason to not be as excited as I should.” Erwin said, and Levi felt sympathetic for him.

Levi remembered Erwin telling him about what he was studying and going to go to college for and how excited he was to take over for his father. And now that he’s finally there... everyone telling him it’s because he’s the CEO’s son that he got the job so quickly... was probably really weighing on Erwin.

As upsetting as it was to hear, it did inspire Levi to want to make sure everything was perfect for Erwin’s big night.

“Oh! But, you remember Levi from highschool?” Erwin asked suddenly, startling Levi as the three walked over to him.

“Really?! Levi? Wow! You haven’t changed a bit.” Hanji said.  
“How have you been?”

“I’ve been good.” He answered, finishing up the decorations for the table they were all standing near.

“That’s good to hear. Wow, I can’t believe you’re actually working for the company that’s working for this event!... where are the rest of the workers anyway?” Hanji asked, looking around the empty room.

“Lunch break.” Levi said.

“What about you?” Erwin asked genuinely.

“I haven’t finished yet.” He said hesitantly, because he knew Erwin would probably fuss over that. And he was right.

“You should eat, Levi. You can finish after.”

“I think I’ll be fired before I can do that.” Levi meant it in a humorous way, but not one of the three seemed to find it funny.

“Levi, that’s not okay. You need to take care of yourself too while you work.”

Levi scoffed, again humorously.  
“I’ll take a break when I’m finished.”

“How many more do you have left?” Mike asked.

“Not sure. I still have to bring out more tables.”

“Why don’t you wait for your co-workers to get back?”

“I’m the one setting up. They’re all working in the kitchen.” Levi said, trying to avoid the annoyance in his voice as he said it.  
“I’ll take a break when I’m finished.”

“Or-” Erwin said, taking the last of the decorations from Levi.

“Hey-“

“You could come get some lunch with us.”

Erwin’s face... it was... Levi didn’t even know. He couldn’t describe the look and expression on Erwin’s face as he waited for Levi to answer. Whatever is was, it made Levi’s stomach have butterflies again.

“Yeah, that’d be fun. Something relaxed before the night.” Hanji said.

“What do you say, Levi?” Erwin asked.

He looked between the four, very tall people before he answered.  
“...Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	8. Lunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They got rid of the first season of AOT on Netflix and I’m salty....

A casual place for Erwin, Mike, and Hanji was a place where Levi felt completely out of place.

While Mike and Erwin wore suits, and Hanji wore a pantsuit, Levi was in causal work clothes and hadn’t showered in a few days. It didn’t help that he was the only one dressed the way he was in the whole restaurant. He wasn’t usally a self conscious person, but he didn’t feel comfortable at all.

He kept quiet though. Levi didn’t want to fuss over such things when Erwin was treating him to lunch.

“Welcome back, Mr.Smith. Table for four?”

Levi had a feeling that would happen.

“Five please.” Erwin said politely.

“Oh. My apologies.” He said, then led them to their table, a more private one in the back.  
“Your waiter will be with you shortly.” He said when they sat down and handed them their menus.

Levi didn’t say anything at first, but he knew that guy probably thought he was just the assistant or something and not one like Moblit was to Hanji. Not at all someone who actually belongs in this kind of place. The only reason he’d ever be allowed in a place like this was if he was the chef. And that was a big goal Levi wanted to reach.

“Sorry about that, Levi. He’s never seen you with me before.” Erwin said to him with a gentle look in his eyes.

Levi wanted to say what was on his mind... but when he looked at Erwin it made all of his thoughts cloudy and forget what he wanted to say.

“I-it’s fine...” was all he could manage saying.

“Well, feel free to order anything you want. It’s on me.”

“Thank you.” Levi scanned the menu to see what they had and saw some items that he was learning to cook in school. All very fancy and expensive items, where at school they made the cheap version of them all.

“What would you like to drink, Levi?” Erwin asked and saw the waiter he didn’t even know had approached the table, which made him feel even more nervous for not noticing something he’s usally hyper aware of.

“I’ll just have some tea.” He answered.

“What kind would that be?” The waiter asked.  
“We have black, green, chamomile, chai, earl gray-“

“I’ll just have black please.” Levi said, before the waiter could name them all.

Once the waiter got the rest of the drink orders and left, Hanji turned to Levi before Levi could go back to looking at his menu.

“So you’re still in college?” She asked.

“Yeah. My last year.” He answered.

“Oh, so you’re graduation in like a month. How exciting.” She said.  
“What do you plan on doing when you leave?”

Levi shrugged, feeling really on the spot to answer to a bunch of people who were only a couple years older and had already taken off in life.  
“I’m taking culinary classes now. I was planning on being a chef.”

“Really? That’s so cool. I never knew you had a passion for cooking.” Hanji said.  
“I always thought you’d join the military or something.”

‘Couldn’t even if I wanted to.’ Levi thought to himself, thinking about how they wouldn’t let him in for his blood sugar issue or whatever. But that wasn’t something he wanted to do anyway.

“Is there somewhere you want to work for?” Mike asked.

“Well, I thought that I could get some experience working where I am now... but that didn’t really happen, so I’m still unsure.”

“Why’s that? If you don’t mind me asking.” Erwin said.

“I just...” Levi stopped himself before he could say anything bad about the place that was about to serve food to all of Erwin’s guests tonight.

“Uh... we don’t get as many jobs as we expect most of the time.” He answered instead.

“Really? How come?” Erwin asked.

“Well, I think we do, but since I’m just a waiter they don’t really need me most of the time. I try to save up whatever I make though. It’s not much so I’ll probably be looking for a new job since I’ll be moving out of the dorms soon.”

“Does your boss not have you work that much?” Mike asked. They all seemed really interested in Levi’s life, which confused the younger, considering his life didn’t really mean much in their important ones.

“I mean... I’ve mentioned leaving before to find something else, but he always ends up telling me he’ll find me more work. He still won’t even let me help out with cooking though. But what can you do.” Levi shrugged, repeating basically the same story he has had to tell anyone who asked about his future plans. However, he didn’t get the usal ‘Everything will work out how it’s supposed to’ response from everyone. Instead he got:

“Levi, that’s not okay. Your boss is keeping you employed and away from other jobs so he can use you whenever he needs.” Erwin said with a bit of concern in his voice.

Levi couldn’t help but get a weird feeling in his stomach when Erwin implied that Daryl was ‘using him’.

“Yeah, you should really quit as soon as you can.” Hanji agreed.

“I mean... I just want to be able to save enough money to move out soon...”

“Levi, after tonight, I will see if I can find you a new job so you can leave.” Erwin said, and internally Levi felt sick.

“No way. You don’t need to do that. I-I have another job.”

“Really? Where?” Hanji asked.

“The convenience store downtown near that skate park.” He answered, but was starting to feel overwhelmed with all the questions. He wondered if this is what having relatives was like.

“That’s kind of... uh... sketchy area.” Moblit chimed in.

“I really could find you a job if you wanted.” Erwin persisted.

As much as Levi thought this small lunch would be nice to connect with the people he knew in highschool, he was starting to feel overwhelmed and out of place.

“I... thank you... for the offer, but I really should be going now.” Levi said, excusing himself before the waiter could even bring out their drinks.

All of a sudden, every little sound that was made as he walked through the restaurant was beginning to make his head hurt and skin crawl. He needed to get out faster.

Once he had made it to the door it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and that feeling he couldn’t get to leave his stomach had finally gone.

Levi took a second and leaned against the wall right besides the door so he could psych himself up to go back to work.

It was much quieter outside. Even for such a high-class fancy place, the amount of people and chatter just got to be too much on top of the all questions and offers Levi was getting at the table.

It was quieter outside until a very expensive car pulled up front and park in front of the door.

A familiar looking man in a suit with his hair slicked back with hair gel, stepped out. He walked towards the door and tossed his keys to Levi, who managed to catch them before the hit the ground.

“Take care of it. I expect it to be right here five minutes before I am ready to leave.”

Levi was beyond confused at this point, until he heard someone say;

“He’s not the valet, Nile.”

Levi looked passed this ‘Nile’ person and saw Erwin standing by the door, and that feeling in his stomach suddenly came back.

“I guess I should’ve known, Erwin.” Nile said with a bite in his voice.  
“The valet usally wears at least decent clothes and doesn’t look like a homeless person.”

“You know, Nile, as a person in business with such a high status as yours, you should be careful about what you say. Especially out in the open. The media loves to gossip.” Erwin said.

Nile made a huffing sound, but didn’t say anything.

“And he’s not a homeless man.” Erwin said, stepping over to Levi and held his hand out for Levi to give him the keys, which he immediately turned back to Nile and gave to him.  
“He’s Levi. He used to go to school with us.”

Levi tried to hide the way his eyes bugged out of his head when he remembered who he was now. It was Nile Dok. He used to be one of Erwin’s best friends. They didn’t seem to be friends anymore. He wondered what happened.

“Oh, so he still follows around like a lost puppy or is this just a coincidence that you’re in the same place at the same time?” Nile daunted, which made Levi’s blood boil.

“We were just having lunch before we got back to work.” Erwin answered, in a very calm and professional way, considering Nile was just picking at every little thing.

Nile let out a low chuckle and shook his head.  
“Erwin. You do realize if you keep employing ‘strays’ you’re just going to run your father’s company into the ground in seconds.”

“Levi doesn’t work for me. He’s working the banquet tonight with the company he works for.”

“Oh, see he-“

“Excuse me, sir. Your car cannot be parked there.” An employee said when they opened the door.

“I was waiting for a valet.” Nile said.

“We don’t have valet service until 5 o’clock.”

Nile let out a huff of air.  
“This is ridiculous. I knew I should’ve gone uptown.” He grumbled, getting into his car and driving away from the restaurant.

“They didn’t need his service anyway.” Levi said quietly, glaring at his car as he drove away.

“They really didn’t. He’s a really bad tipper.” Erwin said and Levi couldn’t help but chuckle. Erwin then turned to him and Levi couldn’t help but look away. He now felt embarrassed for leaving so suddenly and now had to face Erwin.

“Um... I’m sorry... about earlier. I was disrespectful and I apologize.” Erwin said.  
“It was rude of me to pry into your personal life and try to change it.”

Levi couldn’t help but smirk at Erwin’s ‘professional voice’.

“It’s okay. I... didn’t mean to just leave like that... I... It was just a little overwhelming with all the questions.” Levi said, feeling a little ashamed and didn’t really want to admit it.

“Are you feeling alright now?” Erwin asked.

“Yeah... I just needed some fresh air. I sometimes get a little... flustered in those sort of situations. There were just so many people. I couldn’t think straight.” Levi said, holding his head.

“I remember... how you never liked crowds and busy places... I’m sorry that I had forgotten just now.”

“...you’re too soft.” Levi said, walking over to Erwin and nudged him with his elbow.  
“I’ll be fine. I just needed some space. Someplace quieter.”

The small smile on Erwin was very much there and it was visible how his mood had changed.  
“I’ll remember that the next time I take you out.”

“Take me o-“

“There you are! I’m glad we found you, Levi! We didn’t want you to leave before getting some lunch.” Hanji said, handing Levi a bag.

Levi looked inside and saw several containers of food that had steam seeping out of them.

“And here’s your tea.” Hanji said, giving Levi a large to-go cup with steaming black tea inside.  
“Erwin ordered it to-go for you.”

“Oh,” Levi said. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t want you to leave without eating. And I didn’t know what you wanted, so I hope you enjoy it.” Erwin said, but he seemed rather flustered as he spoke.

“This is more than enough... thank you... Erwin.” Levi said, also feeling flustered and the butterfly feeling was back in his stomach.

“Well,” Hanji interrupted Erwin and Levi’s moment of... awkwardness.  
“Now that we have lunch.” She said, holding up multiple bags of food.  
“We should probably get back and start getting ready.”

“You’re right.” Erwin said, checking his watch.  
“I need to get back.”

“Here.” Hanji said, holding up her drink while she handed Erwin and Mike theirs.  
“To an amazing night and great successes to Erwin!”  
They then cheered and went to the car, about to start getting ready for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	9. Stress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this a while ago and kinda forgot about what I wrote. Lol

The tables were all finished and there was only an hour left before the banquet would start.

Levi went into the back to get his waiter uniform and went to the restroom to get changed. When he stepped out of the stall and walked over to the sink, he saw himself in the mirror.

Not getting a chance to shower for a couple of days was beyond disgusting to him, but with work and the power going out, he hadn’t had a chance.

Levi cupped his hands under the water and scrubbed his face. He then grabbed some paper towels and dried himself.

He also remembered that he had some cologne in his backpack that he should use before he gets back to work.

Once he had changed and freshened up, Levi went back into the main hall and saw that the press was already starting to arrive and set up, along with some other important looking people who were making sure everything was ready.

Soon everyone would start arriving so Levi took that chance to slip outside for a moment of peace before the night began. He went out back into the alleyway where it was already dark, covered in the shadow of the building from the setting sun.

It was still April, so it wasn’t freezing, but it was still chilly out and Levi wished he had grabbed his coat. Oh well, he’ll be fine for a couple of minutes in the cold.

He sat on the step in front of the door and pulled out his phone. He checked his email which had gone untouched for the past couple of days and saw one from the college.

 

East dorm students,

After the storm, the dorms 40-70 have received devastating flood damage and is going to be treated for mold over the next week. Please gather any belongings from your dorm immediately while treatment proceeds.

Please connect your guidance counselor to be moved to a temporary dorm, or notify the school if you will be staying off campus for that period of time.

 

This was sent early that morning but Levi didn’t see it until now.

‘Great’ he thought. Now he was going to have to find a place to stay. He’d probably end up asking Farlan and Isabel, but they were out of town for their family reunion and he didn’t want to bother them. So for now he’d probably have to stay in a temporary dorm, which was something he had to arrange tonight or he wouldn’t have a place to stay.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the metal door open behind him. He turned around expecting Daryl to be there, but was surprised to find out it was Erwin.

“Oh, hey, Levi. Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you. I can go somewhere else.” He said, about to back inside.

“No! It’s fine. You can stay.” Levi hated the way he almost sounded desperate for Erwin to stay.

“Thank you.” He smiled and closed the door.  
“Thought I’d get some peace and quiet before tonight. I take it you’re doing the same?”

“I was.” Levi shrugged then sighed,  
“But now I have to arrange where I’ll be staying for the next week.”

“Why?”

“My dorm room got flooded from the storm. They’re going to be treating them for mold and we have to find places to stay. A temporary dorm or somewhere off campus.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear.” Erwin said.

“It’s alright. I’m sure I’ll find-“

Levi’s phone chimed and he saw another email from the school.

 

All temporary dorms have been filled.  
Please contact the school if you are without a place to stay.

 

“Perfect...” Levi mumbled.  
“What convenient timing...”

“What’s the matter?” Erwin asked.

“Dorms are full... guess I’m going to have to ask my friends if I can stay with them... but they’re out of town...”

“So you have nowhere to stay?”

“Not at this moment.” Levi said, hunching over, resting his arms on his knees.

“How about you stay with me?”

Levi turned around to give Erwin a very confused expression.  
“What?”

“You can stay with me. I don’t want you to not have somewhere to stay.”

“Erwin, you already let me stay the night the other day. I don’t need to be in your way either.”

“It’s my offer Levi. I would prefer if you stayed with me instead of somewhere else.”

The way Erwin said ‘somewhere else’ felt strange to Levi. He said it as if Levi would stay anywhere if he didn’t have somewhere to go.

“Please, Levi. It’ll make me feel better if you do.”

Levi scoffed again,  
“Make you feel better, huh. Erwin, I don’t even know how long they’ll take.”

“That doesn’t matter. As long as you-“

“Mr.Smith! Please hurry! Guests are starting to arrive.” Petra said, poking her head outside.

“Yes, I’ll be there in one moment.” Erwin said. Petra nodded and closed the door, leaving the two of them alone again.

“Please... at least consider it. I don’t want you sleeping on the streets.” Erwin said a little humorously.

“I won’t be sleeping on the streets, old man.” Levi said while he stood up.  
“Too filthy... but... I guess I’ll let you know by the end of the night if I have somewhere to stay or not.”

Erwin smiled,  
“Thank you, Levi.”

 

◇◇◇

 

“-and one last round of applause for our new CEO, Mr.Erwin Smith!”

The crowd cheered and clapped as Erwin stood on the stage and posed for pictures and shook hands and even gave a speech about his goals for the company.

Levi tried to watch as much as he could while he served, but didn’t want to get distracted while he worked either.

“I need a refill over here.” Someone said.

“May I get another napkin.”

“And another pair of silverware for me.”

The fact that he was expected to wait so many tables by himself was insane. Apparently they didn’t hire anymore waiters after they got the extra people count and he was now serving a section that should be managed by several more waiters.

Levi tried getting as much done in one trip as possible, but he was started to feel exhausted and keeping up with demand was rough. Their company has never done a job for such a high class group of people before. And they all expected so much.

“Excuse me, I would like to order drinks for everyone at this table.” An older gentleman said.  
“And make it quick. My ride will be here shortly.” He said, checking his watch.

“Yes sir.” Levi said, and hurried to the kitchen.

“Levi, where have you been? You have three more tables that are still waiting.” Daryl said when Levi walked into the kitchen.

“I’m trying...” he said, trying not to be irritated, but it was hard when he had so many more tables than the other severs because they were ‘new’ or Daryl didn’t want to give so much work to the waitresses.

“Just hurry it up.”

“I need to give the man his drinks first. He said he needed them quickly.”

“Fine. But go give these to the other tables while you wait.” He said, and one of the chefs placed several dessert dishes on his tray.

Levi walked out and saw Erwin talking to a couple of people and wondered if he was ever going to get a chance to actually sit and get to eat or relax. But that was the life of a super rich CEO. He was probably used to it.

“Hey.”

Levi turned to the voice and the snapping of fingers and saw that same man from earlier.  
“Where are my drinks? Does quick not mean anything to you.”

“I’ll be right back with them.” Levi said, walking away with the disgusted feeling of the way he was addressed and how the man got his attention.

“Hurry up Levi.” Daryl said as he came in to grab the tray that was full of Champaign flutes.

“He’s over there! Mr.Smith!”

Levi didn’t have anytime to react when he heard the shouting and a camera crew and reporter came rushing past him, causing them the run into the tray Levi was holding, knocking it over on top of him.

The sound of the glasses breaking and Levi falling to the floor could be heard throughout the entire hall. The room went silent.

Levi was now on the ground, soak in Champaign and surrounded by broken glass. He was now cold, wet and embarrassed to be seen like this.

“Levi! Are you alright?”

Erwin had rushed over to Levi instantly, while the younger was still trying to get his head straight and figure out what was going on.

“Get this on camera!”

“What happened?”

“What was that sound?”

There was so much noise. Too many people. He soaked and in a pain, and couldn’t hear himself think because of the noise and chaos.

There were flashing lights of cameras that kept Levi from being able to see, but he felt the hands that grab him by his arms and brought him to his feet before being rushed out of the room.

There was suddenly no more noise and Levi blinked a couple times to get his vision back, but the hands on his arms didn’t let go, which he was glad for, considering he didn’t feel like he could keep his balance.

“Levi, are you alright?”

Levi looked up and saw Erwin and Mike standing in front of him and saw that it was Erwin who was holding him up.

“I think so...” he replied, wiping his face off with his shirt sleeve. He was startled to see that there wasn’t just Champaign, but also blood.

“It just a scratch on your forehead. We’ll get someone to take care of it.” Erwin said.

“I’ll go get the car and-“

“Erwin! You need to be out there right now. There are reportings waiting to interview you.” A man said, probably one of Erwin’s managers.

“I’m in the middle of something.” He said, not taking his eyes off Levi as Mike handed him something to clean the cut on Levi’s forehead.

“You need to make a good first impression for the media or you will lose sponsors for you father’s company! You need to be out here in a one minute!”

Levi really didn’t understand what was going on. He felt like he was floating and sick to his stomach at the same time. He heard some voices talking back and forth, but he kept his eyes focused on his shoes. Only looking at one thing seemed to be helping right now.

It was probably only a couple of seconds, but it felt much longer before the hands on his arms were now on his shoulders and there was one shoe and someone’s leg next to his shoes that he was staring at. He looked up and saw Erwin, almost forgetting he was there. It made his head slam when he tried to remember what was going on.

“Levi, Mike’s going to take care of you, alright? I’ll be with you as soon as I can, okay?”

Trying to make those words make sense in Levi’s mind was one of the most difficult things he felt he’d ever have to do. So instead he tried to nod. When he did, there was a wetness that fell onto his eyes and he tried to blink it away.

“I think it’s a deeper gash than we thought.” Erwin said, and pressed the sleeve of his suit against Levi’s forehead.

“Should I take him to the hospital?” Mike asked Erwin. Levi heard the words, but comprehending them wasn’t something that was going to happen at that moment, as he swayed on his feet.

“Yes, he might need stitches. And I’m worried about the way he is acting. It’s not normal.”

“Okay, I’ll tell the doctors what happened and see if they can figure out what this is.”

Levi now felt like he was actually floating as the ground beneath him got further and further away. He then felt warmth around his body and his face was pressed up against something sort of soft, but also a little scratchy and rough.

“Alright. Please call me when you get there. I’ll try and get there as soon as I can.” Erwin said.  
“I’ll have Gunter and Eld with me.”

“Okay. I’ll go now.” Mike said.

“Please make sure he’s okay.”

“...I will.”

There was movement and the background noise seemed to stop, but the woozy feeling didn’t.

Levi then felt a cool, soft surface beneath him. After that, everything went black and it was silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	10. Concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only have one more chapter ready before I’m out! Better start writing again.

Levi woke up with a headache, along with head pain. His body hurt and he didn’t want to open his eyes. But when heard unfamiliar noises, he felt worried and needed to know where he was.

“He’s doing alright. But you need to rest too.”

“I will. But I need to know that he’s okay.”

“The doctors gave him an IV and stitched the wound in his forehead. He had a fever of 101.2 and his blood sugar was also dangerously low, so they helped him with that too. He does need to eat when he wakes up though. He might even need nausea medicine before then as well.”

“He’s been out this whole time?”

“Yes, the doctor concluded exhaustion from stress and being over worked. He’ll need to rest if he wants to recover faster.”

“Geez...”

Levi slowly opened his eyes and saw Erwin and Mike standing at the foot of the hospital bed he found himself was laying in.

“Hey... how are you feeling?” Erwin asked, his voice and expression were soft and caring, but it was clear as day that he was in desperate need of sleep.

“What happened?” Levi croaked out, his throat feeling like sandpaper.

“Here.” Mike came over and handed Levi a small cup of water, which he took with shaky hands and drank slowly.  
“I’ll go tell a nurse you’re awake.” Once Mike left the room, Erwin spoke.

“There was an accident at the banquet. A tray of Champaign glasses fell while you were holding them. You got hit in the head and needed stitches.” Erwin explained, and Levi lifted his hand up to his forehead to feel the new stitches he would have for a while.

“But also, Levi... you passed out... and not because of the fall... the doctor said it was because of your blood sugar.”

Levi never paid attention when someone mentioned his blood sugar. He didn’t believe he actually had a problem because he never paid attention or actually cared, because nothing ever happened before. That he knew of...

“Did you eat enough?”

“You’re the one who bought me lunch.” Levi reminded.

“I meant after. Did you have dinner? You need to make sure you eat plenty before you work as much as you did.”

Levi looked away to try and hide the red that was appearing on his face in shame.  
“I thought I’d be fine... it was just a stressful night... there were a lot of people.”

Levi thought he just wasn’t a people person and tried to avoid crowds, but Farlan was the one to notice and said that Levi probably had social anxiety by the way he acted around large crowds. It wasn’t a normal ‘I don’t like people’ sort of thing. Levi could feel himself shut down and his senses would be on overdrive at the same time.

He didn’t like the label of having social anxiety, just as he didn’t like to be told he had blood sugar issues, so he decided ignoring both would be best. But now they were both here to bite him in the ass.

“I’m sorry about that.” Erwin said, sitting at the edge of Levi’s bed.

“Why are you apologizing? I was just doing my job.” He replied to Erwin.

Erwin let out a breathy laugh.  
“I know. But I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Well... thank you... for taking care of me. I appreciate it.”

“Of course, Levi.”

That damn smile again. Levi had to look away again because his face was had turned red, but this time with a blush that he couldn’t help.

“Hey~.” A nurse said cheerfully as she walked in after knocking, with Mike following behind her.  
“How are you feeling?” She asked, checking his IV.

“Fine.” He answered, not really feeling anything. They probably gave him pain killers or something.

“That’s good to hear. Well, we did some tests and everything seems to be okay. You’ll need to keep your stitches in for a couple of weeks and keep them clean, and you will need to come back in just to your primary doctor and make sure everything is fine. So if you’re feeling alright, you are free to go home.”

“Okay, thank you.” Levi said.

“Of course. I’ll be right back with some papers to sign and I’ll come and get your IV out.”

“Thank you.” Erwin said, then the nurse left the room.

“I’ll go bring the car around.” Mike said, also leaving the room.

“Here.” Erwin said, handing Levi a white paper bag.  
“Some clothes. Your uniform was soaked, so I had Mike pick something up.”

“You didn’t have-“

“It’s fine. Just take it.” Erwin said, setting on Levi’s lap anyway.  
“And here. You need to eat something too.” He handed Levi a small bottle of orange juice.  
“I’ll get you something when we get back.”

Levi was in the middle of drinking the juice when Erwin spoke.  
“Get back where?”

“My place. You need somewhere to stay, don’t you?”

“Well yeah. But I was just going to stay at my friends’ place.”

“You said they were out of town. I don’t want you to be alone right now.”

Levi scoffed.  
“I’ll be fine. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Not a babysitter. A friend. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Levi looked up at Erwin. His face was covered in absolute exhaustion, and Levi felt bad for wanting to argue against him when he’s already done so much. And if it put Erwin to ease, it was worth it.

Levi sighed, “Okay.”

 

Eventually the nurse came back and removed his IV. Levi then got dressed and was ready to go, Erwin standing with Levi’s belongings in a white paper bag, ready to leave.

He was pushed out in a wheelchair before climbing into the backseat of the car.

It was still dark out when he left and saw that it was 4 o’clock in the morning. And he doubted Mike or Erwin had gotten any sleep. He felt guilty, but didn’t say anything as they made their way to Erwin’s place.

Once they arrived, Erwin helped Levi out of the car and thanked Mike for staying so late, to which he said it was no big deal before he left.

They then walked into the building and was greeted by a security guard.

“Good evening, Mr.Smith.” He said, opening the elevator for them both.

“Good evening, Joshua. Thank you.” Erwin said, and stepped into the elevator.

Levi followed quietly. Even after sleeping for the past couple of hours, he was still exhausted and was ready to sleep again.

Levi leaned against the wall and closed his eyes as they rode up to his floor. His body felt heavy and he wanted to get off his feet already.

He jumped when he felt an arm around his shoulder and opened his eyes. A couple of seconds felt much longer and it took him a moment to remember where he was.

“You looked unsteady.” Erwin said, holding onto Levi as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

He help Levi inside and led him to the couch. The amazing, yet cold leather couch that Levi actually missed.

“I’ll be right back.” Erwin said, taking his coat of and walking into another room.

Levi laid back and looked over to the fireplace that was off. It was still a gorgeous glass fireplace that made the room feel cozy, even if it was all an open plan.

There were no pictures on the mantel, only figurines and small sculptures. It kept the sleek look of the room, but there was no sentimate at all. Nothing that would be able to tell you who actually lived in the penthouse.

“Okay. What do you want to eat, Levi.” Erwin called out from behind him. Levi heard him walk into the kitchen and open the fridge.

He sat up and looked over the couch at Erwin.

“I don’t need to eat, Erwin. Just go bed. It’s late. Besides, I don’t think my stomach can handle anything this late.” 

He heard Erwin chuckle lowly.  
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just want to make sure you’re alright.” He sighed.

“You need sleep, Erwin. It’s-“ Levi looked around for a clock and saw one above the fireplace that he hadn’t noticed before, and read the time.

“Jeez, 4:26. You should go to bed already.” 

“Okay. I will. As soon as you’re ready too.” 

Levi was confused,  
“What do you-“

“Levi, do you really think I was going to let you sleep on the couch? I live in an apartment that is much bigger than one man needs. I have plenty of rooms.”

“And... I’m assuming by what you said that you’re letting me stay in one.”

“Yeah.” Erwin smiled,  
“Come on. It’s this way.”

Levi grabbed the paper bag of clothes and got up to follow Erwin down a dimly lit, wide hallway with multiple large, dark wooden doors. 

“You okay? Dizzy or anything?” Erwin asked, turning his head slightly while he continued to walk.

“M’fine.” Levi answered, trudging down the hall. 

“Good.” Erwin said happily, then stopped at one of the doors.  
“Here. I hope this is okay.” 

Levi stepped inside and shouldn’t have been as shocked as he was when he saw the room.   
“This room is bigger than my dorm.” 

The room had a large bed, desk, dressers and two doors that led to a closet. There was also ceiling to floor windows on the entire back wall. The walls were white and the floors were dark, like the main room in the appartment. 

“Well,” Erwin chuckled, “I don’t think dorm rooms are very big to begin with.” 

“You got that right.” 

“... um... is there anything I can get you before bed?” 

“No. I’m fine. Thank you, Erwin. For everything.” 

Levi saw Erwin smile, and was glad the room was only filled with a little bit of light to hide his blush. 

“Of course, Levi. I hope you get some sleep and feel better in the morning.” 

“Well, when the sun rises. Since it’s already morning.” 

“You’re right. I guess I’ll see you when the sun rise then.” 

“Okay. Goodnight Erwin.” 

Erwin smiled to Levi one last time before he closed the door, but not before telling Levi goodnight as well.


	11. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so excited for the second part of season 3 to air! But I’m also sad because I know what’s going to happen

After a couple hours of sleep, since Levi rolled over and saw that it was eight in the morning, he still felt well rested. The bed was the most comfortable thing he’s slept on ever. Going from his cheap mattress his uncle had, to the ones in his dorm, to this. It was like heaven. 

He sat and stretched,then looked around the room, where he could see more details of it now that there was light. 

Levi was curious about the door next to the closet so he got up and checked and saw that it was a small bathroom. 

He was so grateful to see a shower. It felt like forever since he’s taken one and after last night, even with being cleaned at the hospital, he still felt sticky from the Champaign. 

It helped that he also had the pair of clothes Erwin had bought him that he only wore from the hospital back to the penthouse. 

Levi didn’t hear anything out in the halls, so he assumed Erwin was still asleep and didn’t want to bother waking him to ask for something so simple like taking a shower. He knew Erwin would probably say yes anyway because that’s just how he is.

So Levi did. He took a warm shower and once he was finished he felt even more refreshed. He had washed away days worth of work and stress down the drain and his whole body and mind felt lighter. 

He stepped out of the bathroom, dressed and was using a towel to dry his hair. The shower only took a couple of minutes but he expected there to be noise out in the penthouse by now. It was almost eight thirty, but maybe Erwin was still asleep. 

That was irrelevant though, because Levi needed to get going. He needed to get back to his dorm so he could figure out where he was staying. Of course... Erwin did offer, but Levi felt that was too much to ask after only a couple days of getting back in contact after seven years. Even if Erwin insisted.

Levi went to grab his things when he remembered he didn’t have any of it. It was all probably left back at banquet hall. So now he had another stop to make before going back to campus.

He made the bed and tidied up before leaving the room. When he opened the door, he expected silence. Instead, he heard Erwin talking to someone and quietly walked through the hall to the kitchen, where he found him on the phone while trying to cook. 

“I can’t change what happened and I’m not going to apologize for my actions. I did what was right and that’s all that matters.  
...  
I don’t care what the media says. Let them say what they wish.  
...  
I- hold on, I’m getting another call.  
...  
Hello?”

Levi wasn’t sure if he should interrupt by walking into the room or not. Maybe just trying to sneak out so Erwin wasn’t distracted would be best.

“No, I will not do an interview right now.”  
...  
“Because it is not the time. Goodbye.” 

Levi watched Erwin set down his phone and place his hands on the edge of the counter before leaning over a taking a breath. 

Levi felt bad for seeing Erwin stress. He couldn’t help but feel that it was being caused by what happened last night. What happened to him. 

Erwin then stood up straight and saw Levi out of the corner of his eye, then turned to face him. 

“Levi. Is everything alright?” He asked and Levi could see the dark circles under his eyes and felt guilty. They didn’t get home until really late yesterday and there was no way Erwin could possible feel rested with such little sleep. He could only hope Erwin didn’t get to go workout like he had last time Levi stayed over. 

“Fine... is everything alright with you?” He asked, hoping he wasn’t invading on anything he shouldn’t ask about. 

Erwin sighed,   
“It’ll be alright. Just a little frustrated with some people at the moment. I’ve been having to do damage control for my company this morning.” 

“... I’m sorry... it’s my fault.” 

Erwin turned and looked Levi straight in the eye.

“No, it is not.” He said sternly.   
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“Fine.” Levi said.   
“Then you were wrong. You shouldn’t have helped me. I would’ve been fine and you wouldn’t be dealing with this mess or getting home at four in the morning after a huge event. I’m not that important.” 

“You’re important to me!” Erwin shouted, his voice echoing throughout the room, startling Levi. 

His expression went from passionate to guilty when he saw how Levi reacted to his outburst. 

“...I’m sorry... that wasn’t necessary. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He said, turning away while scratching the back of his neck. 

“N-no it’s not... Erwin... what did you mean by that?” Levi asked, walking over to Erwin. 

“I have to go patch things up with some of my-“ 

“No. Not about your company... about... what you said... about me..? What did you mean about me?” 

Erwin turned to look at Levi. The younger man had one hand on the counter top and an eager look in his eyes. 

“I’m... important to you. What did you mean?” 

Wait... did he really say that? Did Erwin really say to Levi that he was important to him? How could he have slipped up this badly. 

Levi didn’t falter. He stayed and waited for an answer and he didn’t look like he was going to leave without one. 

Erwin ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He was about to say something he’d wanted to say ever since he’s known Levi but never felt like the time was right. This might not have been the way he wanted to confess his feelings... but he didn’t have a choice. He had to. 

“Levi... I... I meant what I said. You’re...  
Important to me... I... I love you, Levi.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

The ride back to the college was... quiet. Very quiet. Neither of the knew what to say. Even Mike could tell there was tension between the two. Not like they were arguing though. It was different than that. 

“Where would you like me to drop you off, Levi?” Mike asked after a while. He avoided asking until the last minute. 

“You can just drop me off at the front. I need to see where I’ll be staying.” Levi answered, wishing he could just go straight to his dorm and not think about the rest of the day. 

“Okay.” Mike said, then pulled up to the front building and stopped. 

“Thank you for the ride.” Levi said, opening the car door and getting out. He didn’t leave right away though. He knew he had to say something to Erwin. He couldn’t avoid him after all he’s done for him. 

“Um... thank you... for... taking me in... and making sure I was alright. I...-“

“Levi. I know...” Erwin sighed, “I know what I said... the way I said it without even talking about it with you. It was wrong of me... and I’m sorry.” 

Levi didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t spoken to Erwin much after he confessed his feelIngs. 

“Um... it’s okay. I... should go see if they.. have my room. Thank you again.” Levi said and went to close the car door, but was stopped when Erwin kept him from doing so. 

“Please call me. Let me know... if you need anything.” 

“... I will. Bye, Erwin.” 

Levi then closed the door and walked away before he changed his mind and went back there.

He... he couldn’t believe Erwin actually said that. Well, he didn’t know if he could believe if Erwin meant it or not. 

He seemed genuine and seemed like he meant it, but Levi didn’t want to believe that was true. And the hard part was not knowing why he didn’t want to believe it. Was it because... no... it couldn’t be. 

Levi had to get out of his own head by the time he walked up to the administrators office so he could figure out what his plans were for his dorm. 

It was Sunday, but luckily there was someone to talk to about the flooding. They also seemed to be talking to a man from the power company. Probably about the powerlines that Levi saw down on the way back. There was also conveniently no power inside the administrators building either. He wondered if the whole school was out of power. 

“Excuse me. I was wondering who I could speak to about the men’s dorms.” He said.

“Right over there.” She directed him over to another lady who held a clipboard and was speaking with some students. 

She must’ve seen him walking over because she immediately turned her attention to him. 

“Are you Levi Ackerman?” 

“Yes, I am.” He answered. 

She huffed, which confused him. 

“We have been trying to contact you for the past two days. Dorms 40 through 47 have received the most flood damage and we told students in those dorms to retrieve their belongings so we could begin repairs. Your dorm however, 43, has yet to be cleaned out and mold is festering and along with the emergency heat kicking it, it’s spreading fast. We checked it over and doubt anything in there is salvageable.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	12. Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I enjoy writing this story the most out of the other three I’m working on.

Everything was really gone. Nothing was able to be saved at this point. 

All of Levi’s belongings were ruined and he had nothing left. Everything he had stored under his bed in boxes were completely ruined. Anything he had on shelves still had water pooled on top and soaking throughout everything.

Everything. He didn’t have much, and nothing he owned was valuable... but... he had one box... one box that was filled with pictures and notes from his mother. The only box that truly mattered... was nothing but soggy, smudged paper. 

Nothing was able to be saved. The pictures were water damaged and the notes were nothing but clumps of wet paper. 

Levi sat on his wet carpet and went through everything, but it was too late. With being gone, the water had soaked through the cheap dorm furniture and cabinets and ruined every single item that he owned. 

He had to go and tell them that everything had to be thrown out. That they had to take everything and trash it because it couldn’t be saved. 

Levi felt like he wanted to die. 

After everything that happened at work and with Erwin, finding out that he had to find somewhere to stay, and now seeing that every single thing he owned was ruined... 

He felt lost. What was he supposed to do now? It’s not like he had a relative he could stay with. Kenny moved soon after Levi enrolled in college and he wasn’t really sure where he lived now. And we really didn’t have enough money to replace almost anything.

He only had one other option now and that was to see if he could stay with Farlan and Isabel. It was still strange to him though. They had offered before but he told them that he didn’t want to depend on anyone. But they knew he actually didn’t want to burden them, which he wasn’t. 

Maybe he’d just have to let go of his pride and just ask. That is if he didn’t want to sleep in the common area for the dorms. They got in trouble for that anyway. 

They were supposed to be back today, so he figured he’d call them and ask if it was alright. The only problem with that though... was that he didn’t have his phone. 

They never stopped at the banquet hall where his stuff was left and his phone was with all of that. 

He didn’t even feel up to that. He was just going to go tell them to throw all of his things out and head over to Farlan and Isabels and just wait for them there. 

 

Once he got their place, he found the key they had hidden in case of getting locked out, he went inside and just laid on their couch. He felt miserable. 

It wasn’t easy telling someone to just throw everything out. He never even looked in the box with his mother’s things, but that didn’t mean he didn’t value it. And now it was gone. 

The one, small, irreplaceable box he owned was now nothing but soggy, clumps of paper. The only thing that kept him connected to his mom was only landfill now. 

He didn’t even know what to do now. He didn’t even want to be at their place anyway. He didn’t want to be asked questions that he knew they would ask. Maybe coming here was a mistake.  
Maybe-

“I told you we’d be back before lunch if we took the back way. There was no traffic.” 

“Alright, Isabel, you proved me wrong, you can drop it now. I don’t- Levi?” 

Isabel and Farlan were back earlier than he had expected. 

“Hey.” Levi said. 

“What’re you doing here? Not that I care, it’s been a long weekend without seeing you.” Isabel said. 

“I think this is all of it.” 

Levi didn’t get a chance to respond to Isabel’s question when he heard an unfamiliar voice by the door. There was a young boy with brown hair and green eyes, carrying a duffle bag and a large suitcase. 

“I didn’t realize how heavy this was.” The boy said. 

“I knew it was going to be heavy. Better to overpack than underback though.” Farlan said to him.

Levi gave them both a puzzled look as he waited for an explanation as to who this person was. 

“Oh! Levi, this is our cousin, Eren. He’ll be staying with us for a little while to get to know the campus since he’ll be going to college here. Eren, this is our friend, Levi.” She introduced. 

“Nice to meet you.” Eren said.

“You too.” Levi said, realizing his plans had now been changed since he couldn’t stay with them now that Eren was here. 

“I’ll show you to your room.” Isabel said, helping Eren bring his luggage to the bedroom.  
Once they left, Farlan spoke. 

“What’s up, Levi? Everything alright?” 

“Huh? Yeah, fine. Why?” 

“Not to be rude, but why are you here? Are you okay?” 

Could Farlan really see right through him? Even if he could, Levi had to lie. There was no way he was getting into the discussion about Erwin. 

“I just... thought a left something here from the other day?” 

“Oh, did you find it?” 

“No. I probably left it behind at work.” Levi said, walking towards the door. He decided he should leave and let Eren get settled in without him being there. Considering he was only there to ask if he could stay, but those plans changed. 

“How was that, by the way?” Farlan asked before Levi could reach the door.  
“Did it go well?” 

“Yeah. It was fine.” Levi lied and was thankful that his hair covered the part of his forehead that had stitches. 

“I’m glad.” Farlan said, and Levi thought he was in the clear to go... but he was wrong.  
“How’s the school? I heard they’re without power. Is your dorm without it too?” 

Levi didn’t know how to answer. If he lied and Farlan found out, they’d be mad that Levi lied in the first place. But if he said it was, then they would want to help him and he didn’t want to get into that. Especially since their cousin was visiting and he didn’t need to ruin that. He was only a friend. Not family. 

“Levi?” 

“It’s fine. The power will be back on soon. I gotta go get my stuff from work. I’ll see you later.” He said, and left before Farlan could ask anymore questions. 

Once he got down the street and out of the neighborhood, he realized that he literally had nowhere to go and was walking to nothing. His dorm was flooded, there were no more available, Isabel and Farlan had company, and... he couldn’t go to Erwin’s. 

He had offered, but... he couldn’t. Not after what Erwin told him. 

Levi didn’t even know how he felt about all of that. Erwin loved him? Always? Why didn’t he tell him back in high school? Are these sort of feelings new? Did... Levi feel the same way? No. 

No. He couldn’t. Levi’s never been in love before. And Erwin? Erwin was his highschool friend and tutor. Yeah Levi got a weird feeling in his stomach when he’s around Erwin, but that’s just from being nervous since Erwin’s a CEO of a huge company now, and Levi was just a college student with no guaranteed career in the future. Only a piece of paper that was supposed to get him somewhere in life. 

What was he supposed to do? 

Levi didn’t even realize how lost in thought he was until he saw how far he had walked. When he looked around though... it reminded him that he did still have one option. He did have a place to stay. But... no, he wouldn’t let anything happen. He was just going to stay until they fixed his dorm. That was all... he’s not going to give in so easily. 

 

◇◇◇

 

Erwin was anxiously pacing in his office. He was taking phone calls all day about the event that happened yesterday at the banquet, but the entire time he couldn’t get Levi off his mind. He was afraid he made Levi uncomfortable and he’d never want to see Erwin again. 

They hadn’t seen eachother in seven years, but when he saw Levi the other day for the first time in all those years of being apart, those feelings he had in highschool all came back. He wanted to be with Levi. 

But maybe he shouldn’t have told Levi his feelings so he could still see him, or waited longer before confessing. Maybe he had now messed up any sort of chance he had with him. 

“Still thinking about him?” Mike asked, standing in the doorway of Erwin’s office. 

“I messed this up.” Erwin said, shaking his head in disappointment in himself.  
“He’s already going through a lot I’m sure, and now I go and make it worse for him... I shouldn’t have said anything.” 

“He wouldn’t have known if you didn’t tell him. Now he can make a decision for himself. You just have to be okay with that decision.” Mike said.

Erwin didn’t always like it, but he could always count on Mike to tell him the truth, even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. That’s why Mike works well with him. 

“You’re right. But... I want to check on him. The power is still out at the school. I want to make sure he has a place to stay.” Erwin said, grabbing his suit coat as he walked out. 

Mike chuckled.  
“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	13. Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had such a bad migraine last night and had to finish writing this in the morning, so the end is kinda choppy.

He was there. He could turn back if he wanted, but once he went in, he’d have to stay. Levi tried to think logically and wondered if this was a bad idea or a horrible one. 

He needed somewhere to stay... and the doors were always opened here... and it shouldn’t be that bad. They’d buy Levi things too since he had nothing. He’d just have to make the best of this. 

Levi took a breath, then walked into the convincnce store. Martin’s store.

“I knew you’d come back sooner or later.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

“This is it, right?” Erwin asked. 

“This is the place we dropped him off.” Mike said, parking in front of Farlan and Isabel’s apartment. They had already gone back to the college and couldn’t find Levi, so this is the second place they decided to look. 

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Erwin said, getting out of the car and walking up to the front door. He hoped Levi was here.

He knocked and waited for a response, before a short, red haired girl answered the door. 

“Can I help you?” She asked. 

“Yes, I’m Erwin Smith. I was wondering if Levi was here. I wanted to talk to him.” 

“Oh, you’re the mystery guy that dropped him off the other day.” Isabel smirked. 

“Who’s at the door?” Farlan asked, joining Isabel at the door. 

“It’s Erwin. The guy with the fancy car that dropped Levi off the other day.” 

“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Farlan and this is Isabel. Um, Levi’s not here right now. He took off a little while ago.” 

“Oh, so you know where he went?” Erwin asked.   
“I went to the campus and there’s no power and I asked about his room and they told me it was flooded and-“

“Wait, what? Levi didn’t tell us about that.” Isabel said. 

“You didn’t know? The school counselor said several of the men’s dorms were flooded and those students had been moved, but had no record of Levi being moved. Levi told me last night he had no where to stay. I thought he might’ve been here.” Erwin said. 

“He came by, but he said everything was fine at school.” Farlan said. 

“Farlan... do you think..?” Isabel looked worried.

“What’s wrong?” Erwin asked. 

“Isabel, stay here with Eren.” Farlan said, grabbing his phone, wallet and keys.   
“I’m going to go look for him.” 

Erwin didn’t wait to asked questions and got back into his car and gave Mike instructions to follow Farlan. 

“Where are we going?” Mike asked. 

“To find Levi. I have a bad feeling that something’s really wrong.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

Levi has avoided going up to Martin’s apartment above his store for obvious reasons. But Levi kept the conversation light and asked if he could stay on his couch for a few days instead of getting paid for his shifts. 

“You know it’s more of a treat for me to have you stay over.” Martin said in sultry voice, which made Levi’s skin crawl.   
Martin was probably one of the most disgusting men Levi had ever laid eyes on, and the only reason he got a job there was because he needed to money and he heard from a classmate that he pays well. 

His classmate however had no morals and said he’d even sleep with Martin if he’d get paid. Levi that he had morals now, but he wasn’t so sure since he just asked if he could stay at Martin’s place. 

“I’m surprised you agreed. You seem to listen to your friends too much and let them live your life for you. About time you made your own decisions.” Martin said, drapping an arm across Levi’s shoulders as they stood behind the counter. 

“I just needed a place to stay. My dorm flooded. I lost all my stuff.” Levi said, stepping away from Martin’s touch. 

“So~ you need a place to stay, and a couple of the necessities. Well, I can help you with that.” Martin said, stepping back over to Levi.   
“If you can help me with something first.” 

Levi was cornered as his back was pressed against the wall and Martin hovered over him. He wasn’t very tall, but most people were since Levi was only 5’3. 

Levi thought he was saved by the bell when a customer walked in. Sadly, he was wrong. 

“Sorry, we’re closed.” Martin said. 

“Ah, I see you’ve got yourself a sweet treat there. Definitely your type.” The ragged man by the entrance said. Levi knew he was a regular and had seen him on serval occasions. 

“You know I leave the blonde skanks for you. These ones are mine.” Martin said, pulling Levi close to him. Maybe this was a mistake. 

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it. But you owe me some beer and an explanation about how you finally got the one you were after.” The man laughed disgustingly before leaving, which made Levi’s stomach churn. Now that he was gone-

Levi suddenly felt Martin squeeze his behind and shove him face in the side of Levi’s neck. 

“H-hey!” 

“You need assistance, don’t you? I’m not asking for much.” 

Levi tensed and felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t think this would happen. He didn’t think Martin was ever serious about this. 

His head was fuzzy and his vision was blurry. His body felt heavy all of a sudden and he didn’t realize that he was being dragged up the rickety stairs to Martin’s apartment. 

It was the awful smell that hit Levi and brought him back down to earth before his instincts kicked in and he knew he had to fight. 

“Okay, you didn’t struggle up the stairs so there’s no need to start now.” Martin said, holding tightly onto Levi’s wrist as he began to pull away. 

“Martin, forget it. I don’t need your help, just let-“

“Nah, I’ve waited long enough for this.” 

Martin harshly shoved Levi onto his filthy couch and held him down before Levi got a chance to get up. 

“Martin! Stop! We’re not doing this!” Levi shouted, trying to twist his body out of Martin’s grasp. He panted heavily as he struggled to get out, but just Martin’s body weight was enough to keep Levi down. 

He wished he never came here. Never heard about this place. He should’ve stayed with Farlan and Isabel or even... Erwin. 

He should’ve stayed with Erwin. That’s who he wanted to see. That’s who he wanted to be with. He wanted Erwin here. If he was going to do this with anybody... it would be Erwin. 

“Well, you stopped moving, making this a little easier. Might as well enjoy it then.” Martin said, running his head up Levi’s shirt now that Levi stopped struggling. 

He didn’t want to accept it, but it was his own dumb mistake of coming here and subconsciously knowing what Martin wanted. So he let him do what he wanted. Levi already screwed up and left Erwin, when he should’ve just told Erwin how he really felt, instead of running away. 

Levi was so zoned out at this point that he didn’t even hear the banging on the door downstairs until Martin got off of him and started yelling. 

“We’re closed, dammit!” 

Levi was upset to hear that the banging eventually stopped, as he thought he was in the clear and Martin wasn’t going to do anything. 

“Damn drunks. They don’t need to be drinking in the middle of the day as it is. Guess I’ll need to hire someone for those shifts while I’m up here with you.” He said, turing his attention back to Levi. 

Levi tensed again and squeezed his eyes shut as Martin started running his hand up Levi’s shirt and rubbing his chest. He felt like he was going to puke. This wasn’t how he wanted his first time to be. 

“Levi!” 

“Levi are you here?!” 

Two people started screaming for Levi seconds after he heard the backdoor bust open. Neither him or Martin really got a chance to react before they started coming up the stairs. 

“Who the hell-“ 

Martin was cut off when Levi watched as Mike punched him in the face before shoving him off of Levi and apprehending him. 

“Levi!” 

Levi was then embraced by Erwin and was still in shock that he couldn’t move his body, and just let Erwin hold him. 

“Levi! Oh my gosh!” 

Levi moved his eyes and saw Farlan run over and kneel next him - gentle rubbing his back in comfort. 

“Levi, what happened?” 

What... did happen? Why did nothing feel real? He felt like he was floating yet wanted to die at the same time.

Levi looked like a scared animal. He took short, quick breaths and his eyes were darting between Farlan, Erwin, and Mike. He was also just coherent enough to feel pathetic that he had to be saved from someone he approached first.

“Let’s go.” He heard Erwin say, but he sounded muffled as Levi stared to slip out of consciousness as his adrenaline started to crash.

He felt Erwin hold onto him before he was lifted off the couch and into Erwin’s arms. There was some slight movement before Levi closed his eyes and the world stood still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	14. Forgetting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a crazy week so here’s a shorter chapter. 
> 
> My cousin was born the other day, but is in the hospital still with an infecting. :,(

Levi woke up without a trace of memory of what had happened before he fell asleep. His mind was competely blank.

He sat up slowly and cautiously when nothing felt familiar. The bed was softer than his at the dorm and the air wasn’t stuffy. It took a lot to freak him out, so he stayed calm when he finally opened his eyes to find out where he was. 

He wasn’t at his place... or Farlan and Isabels... he was still at Erwin’s? No... he left... right? Was that a dream? ...no... but what happened? 

Levi got out of the bed and walked over to big window and opened the curtians. It was sunrise...no... sunset... what the heck was going on. 

He walked over to the door and opened it to immediately hearing several voices out in the main room.

Levi walked quietly, incase Erwin had guests that he didn’t want to bother. Levi that he was anxious for that, but when he saw the police out in Erwin’s living room, he wished it was only some house guests. 

“We’ll collect records on him and check for any other incidents since his description matches a man from several other cases we’ve had regarding this sort of thing.” 

Levi peeked around the corner and saw a police officer talking to Erwin, while another one was talking to Mike, along with a couple others that were lingering around the penthouse. 

“Thank you officer. And he’s in custody now?”

“Yes, Mr.Smith. And we’ll be staying until Mr.Ackerman is ready to talk about what happened so we can proceed.” 

Mr.Ackerman as in... himself? Levi couldn’t stand in the hallway and wait anymore once he heard his name. 

“Levi. You’re awake!” 

“Farlan?” 

Farlan came over and gave Levi an unexpected and tight hug. Why was he at Erwin’s place? 

“Levi, you’re up.” Erwin said, rushing over to him as well. 

“Yeah, I’m up... what’s going on?” He asked, looking around the room, confused. 

“What do mean?” Farlan asked.   
“Levi... do you not remember?” 

He shook his head. He figured he should know something about what was going on, but his mind was blank. Something bad must’ve happened since the police were here. 

“Did he sustain any injuries when you found him?” The cop asked Erwin. 

“Not that I am aware of. We seemed to have made it before anything happened.” Erwin said, but looked distressed talking about. 

“Would it be alright if we check for any head wounds?” The police officer now asked Levi.

Not knowing what was going on made him not want them to check even more than if he knew what was happening. 

“Why? What’s going on?” 

Levi went to step backwards, but he felt dizzy and started to sway. Farlan grabbed his arm and held tightly onto him. 

“We’ll explain once you get something to eat.” Erwin said. 

“I don’t need to eat, I need to know what’s going on.” 

Erwin sighed through his nose, but kept his gaze locked on Levi, as the younger did that same. 

“Could you give us a moment.” Erwin asked the police officers, who politely stepped away while Erwin led Levi back into the hallway, with Farlan helping Levi walk just in case. 

“Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?” Levi said, a little louder than he wanted to. 

“You need to eat first. When’s the last time you ate?” Erwin asked. 

“How am I supposed to know? I don’t even know what’s going on!” 

Levi looked over to Farlan, then back to Erwin, still waiting for answers from either of them. 

“Levi... you were at Martin’s.” Farlan finally said, but it took him a while to make sense of his words.  
“You left our place and went to Martin’s... do you not remember any of that?” 

Levi shook his head again. He felt like he should know, or was at least getting some glimpses of memory back, but he didnt recall much. 

“Levi, you need to eat first. It’s been all day since you last ate.” 

It got on Levi’s nerves that Erwin was so persistent on him eating so often. Why was he so worried about him? 

“Come on.” Farlan said, lightly tugging on Levi’s arm to walk. 

“I’m fine.” He said, yanking away.   
“I walked out here just fine.” 

Levi knew he was being short, but he could feel how anxious he was, not knowing what was going on or what was happening. He was so confused. 

“I’ll be right back.” Erwin said while Farlan told Levi to sit down at the table.

Farlan went to to kitchen while Levi sat and tried to remember what happened. Why was he here? Why was Farlan here? What day was it? What time was is? Why couldn’t he remember? Why was he at Martin’s? 

“Here.” Farlan said, handing Levi a glass of orange juice and some crackers.  
“I have no idea how to use anything in here. I’m sure Erwin will cook you something when he gets back.” 

“Since when did you two become buddies?” Levi asked.

“Since he came to our place looking for you.” Farlan said seriously after Levi’s humorous comment.   
“We went to Martin’s when Erwin said he couldn’t find you at the campus. Said your dorm was being emptied. Do you not remember any of this?” 

“I don’t know... it all feels like a weird dream.” Levi ran his hand through his hair. 

“You didn’t seem drugged when we found you.” 

“Drugged? What even happened?!” 

“I asked them to come back tomorrow when things settle.” Erwin said, walking into the kitchen. 

When Levi looked at him though... he felt like he was forgetting something Erwin told him. It felt important... but not important enough to remember it seemed. 

“Good. I think tomorrow will be better anyway.” 

Levi didn’t know why Farlan was coming off so cold with everything he said. Why was he mad?

“I think so too. Are you eating, Levi?” 

“Yeah.” He said.

Erwin then took a seat at the table with them and then it got awkward.  
Was Levi supposed to say something or... he didn’t know...

“We should probably get home. Isabel has been calling me all evening and I doubt her and Eren have eaten dinner.”

“Eren?” 

“Yeah- I guess you forgot that too. Our cousin Eren is staying with us for a couple of weeks to tour the campus and get to know the area for next year.”

“So... how are all four of us going to stay at your place? Why can’t I just go back to my-... oh... I do remember that... still flooded.” 

“Yeah. So come on. I’ll sleep on the couch. You can have my bed.” 

Farlan didn’t say that in a nice, friendly way. Levi still didn’t understand why he was so mad. Did he do something wrong? Did he upset Farlan in some way?

“I’m not going to make you sleep on a couch. I’ll just-“

“What? Go back to Martin’s? Cause that worked out so great last time?” 

“What are you talking about? I don’t even remember what happened! You can’t be mad at me for that!” 

“No, but before you forgot, you went to Martin’s anyway! We’ve told you before that you shouldn’t work there and yet you go back. Do you not know what he does? Do you really not care that you’re willing to put your life at risk?!” 

“I don’t know why I was there, but I’m sure there’s a reason!” 

“There’s no reason good enough for you to go to him!” 

Their shared gazed didn’t falter after the outbursts, so it was Erwin who broke the tension after a while. 

“How about you just stay with me? I know you said before that you didn’t want to, but since your dorm isn’t ready, why don’t you just stay?” 

“... I don’t know, how about you ask Farlan and get his permission?” Levi said, knowing just how petty he was being. 

“Are you sure this place is dangerous enough for you?” Farlan said, but continued with a sigh before anyone else could speak.   
“I don’t care. You just better stay away from Martin’s and get some help.” He said, then got up from table and went to leave.   
“See you later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	15. Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part of season 3 on Sunday!!

Levi basically stared lasers at the elevator doors as Farlan got on and left, leaving Levi sitting at the dinning table with Erwin. 

“Why is he so mad? I don’t know why I can’t remember. He doesn’t have to act pissed of because of it.” 

“He was really worried about you, Levi. He told me about what Martin has done before. How could he not be angry?” 

“I don’t even know what happened! Why aren’t either of you listening to that?! You could at least tell me what happened!” 

Erwin didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds, but he didn’t break eye contact with Levi either. 

“We don’t really know what happened either. We couldn’t find you and Farlan said where you might be, so we went there.” 

“Erwin... that explains nothing.” 

“Look, Levi, both Farlan and I agreed to not put ideas in your head about what happened-“

“You and Farlan are two very different people. You can’t just agree with him because he’s known me longer. You can tell me what happened!” 

“No. If you don’t remember in a couple days, then I’ll tell you, but I’m not putting ideas in your head from what we saw.” 

“Why? What’re you so worried about?! I lost a whole day! I might remember why I went to Martin’s in the first place if you told me!” 

“Levi, I don’t know what’s going through your mind right now or why you can’t remember, but-“

“You’re trying not to put ideas in my head to scare me, I get it.” Levi huffed, and pushed his chair away from the table and walked away. 

“Where are you going?” Erwin said alertly.

“Relax. I’m just going to my room, since I can’t go back to my dorm.” Levi didn’t mean to sound to gruff, but he was irritated and anxious. 

There were things missing and they wouldn’t tell him. He was more mad at Farlan than Erwin, but he was taking it out on Erwin since Farlan had left.

“Levi, you haven’t eaten yet.” 

“Not hungry.” 

“I don’t care. You know you need to eat. How do you expect to get better if you don’t take care of yourself?” 

Levi stopped walking, but didn’t turn to look at Erwin right away. If it was anyone else, he’d tell them where to shove it. But since it was Erwin... he felt more obligated to listen. 

“I’ll cook something. I haven’t eaten dinner yet either.” Erwin said, a lot more causally as Levi heard him walked into the kitchen. He gave it a couple minutes of Erwin rummaging around the kitchen before he sighed and went back. He went to sit on the couch though instead of at the dinning room table. 

“Is-“

“Anything is fine. I don’t care.” Levi answered Erwin’s question about dinner before he could even ask it. 

“Okay. I’ll do what I can.”

Levi sighed and felt bad for being so snappish with Erwin, but he knew he had a right to. He felt like shit, his brain was all foggy, and he still had no answers. He didn’t understand what Farlan’s deal was and honestly wanted to call him and demand answers... but it was late and he was on his way home to Isabel... and he guessed their cousin was there or something. That... sort of felt familiar, but he wasn’t sure...

“You left your stuff here yesterday when you left.” Erwin said, suddenly very close to Levi, which startled him when he realized he had been nodding off.   
“Here.” Erwin said, handing Levi his raggedy backpack that he was actually embarrassed by. 

“Thanks...” Levi said, feeling like... he had forgotten this somewhere else. This goddamn memory loss things was pissing him off. He knew they were there, but it was impossible to make out. How the hell did this even happen? 

He fished out his phone from his bag and flipped it open. Dead. Of course. And no charger with him. Damn. And of course, there’s no way Erwin - Mr.Rich CEO - had a charger for a twenty dollar phone that was a piece of shit. Not that it really mattered. The only people he would ever need to get in contact with he already talked to today. 

“You left it when I went to drop you off earlier this morning.” Erwin said. 

“I... guess that was this morning?” 

“Yeah.” 

Levi had to stop thinking about what he had forgotten as it started to make his head hurt. 

“You were... kinda in a hurry to leave this morning.” Erwin said. 

“Why’s that?” Levi asked as a general wondering. What was he in such a rush to leave for? Did-

“It was nothing important. Just wanted to get back to the campus.” 

“... no... no, there’s more that, isn’t there? What aren’t you telling me now?” Levi pressed. He could very vaguely recall something Erwin had said to him... that he believed was that morning.  
“Erwin, what did you say? You said something that made me want to leave.” 

Depending on Erwins answer, Levi might very well just get up and leave. Find somewhere else to stay. Erwin stayed quiet though and that ticked off Levi even more. 

“If you want me to eat, you better tell me.” Levi threatened, knowing it was a cheap shot but it worked. 

Erwin sighed.  
“It was nothing. I just said you need to take better care of yourself.” 

Levi raised and eyebrow.  
“You tell me that anyway.”

“I... was just more upset about it after you got out of the hospital... and I overstepped my bounds.” 

Levi knew that was bullshit, but he wasn’t going to get the answer out of Erwin. He didn’t want to push anymore either when he saw that it was actually upsetting him. Levi should be the one upset here, but seeing Erwin like that made him feel guilty. 

Did he lash out at Erwin earlier before he left? Should he apologize? Maybe... if Erwin told him the truth and gave him a reason to apologize. 

“Fine... when will food be done? I’m tired.” 

“Shortly... just need to make sure I’m doing this right.” 

Levi turned around and watched Erwin read the back of a box of... something and looked like he was reading something in a different language. 

“Having trouble there, big guy?” 

“A little... I don’t usally cook.” He admitted. 

“Oh yeah, Mr.Rich Guy’s got a person chef, doesn’t he?” 

“I do. I told them they could take the night off though.” 

“Well, how come I haven’t seen them around here before? I’ve been coming over the past several days.” 

“It’s been easier to relax without people here, honestly. I even told Mike he could go home; even though he lives a couple floor down.” 

“I’ve been here.” 

Erwin turned away and went to stir the boiling pot on the stove. 

“Am I special or something?” Levi joked, but Erwin seemed more serious when he turned to look back at Levi. 

“You mean a lot to me Levi.” 

“...okay...” Levi said skeptically. Where was this going?

“I enjoyed having you around during this stressful time. I’ve... wanted to see you for the longest time, and I couldn’t have even imagined you being at this event. I was honestly really excited to see you. And how you haven’t changed.” Erwin turned of the stove and moved the pot away from the burner. 

“I’m probably about to make the same mistake I made earlier this morning-“ 

Wait, was he about to say the real reason Levi had left that morning? 

“But I really do love you Levi. I know that I’m probably overstepping again, but I thought about what to say this time.” 

“Erwin-“ 

“Please just listen to what I have to say. I... I’ll tell you what happened earlier if you’ll just hear me out first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	16. Acceptance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got my drivers licenses finally after over two years of when I could’ve gotten it, but I was too anxious to drive back then and the test is easier if you’re 18 or older where I live. 
> 
>  
> 
> I also have been slacking on writing because I didn’t know Crunchyroll was free you just had to watch a lot of ads, so I’ve been binge watching it’s of anime XD
> 
>  
> 
> Any opinions on season three so far?

Listening to Erwin explain to him what had happened and how he and Farlan found him at Martin’s was really hard to do. He explained how they found Martin assaulting him and took him back to Erwin’s place when he passed out.

“So... why... didn’t you want to tell me that?” Levi asked. 

He and Erwin were sitting on the couch talking after Levi had gotten something to eat, which he was happy for since now he didn’t know if he could stomach anything. He wished he listened to Farlan and Isabel when they told him to stop working there. 

“Farlan told me not to tell you this... because he didn’t want you to worry... but you’re important to me... and I feel like you should know.” Erwin said, but Levi found himself anxiously holding his breath as he awaited an answer.  
“He said that you’ve lost your memory before during a traumatic event and was afraid it would happen again.” 

“What... what do you mean? I haven’t forgotten anything... have I?”

“He didn’t tell me what it was that happened... but I would tell you if I knew... I feel like you should know, I wouldn’t keep it a secret from you.” 

Levi knew Erwin wasn’t saying that just to make Farlan look bad or try to win Levi over... He genuinely meant it. 

“Thanks... I mean... you telling me kinda helped... I think I remember a little bit now.”

“I’m glad.” Erwin smiled.

“So... all of this happened after I left because... you told me you loved me? And I freaked out and left?” 

“Well, I did give you a ride back to the campus... so you didn’t get to run away completely.” Erwin said humorously. 

“Well that’s good.” Levi smiled awkwardly, but he still couldn’t push past that dreaded feeling in his stomach. How did this all happen? How did he forget? What scared him so much earlier that he left like he did. Erwin just said that he loved him... that wasn’t so scary... right? 

He looked up and saw Erwin gazing at him; the only light source coming from the sconces above the glass fireplace and any lights from buildings that were shining through the floor to ceiling window. 

It was weird. He didn’t understand why he would’ve freaked out before... the man that confessed his feeling to him... he was perfect. Why was he so pathetic? 

Erwin was there for him and was helping him through all of this and yet... he pushed him away because he was scared? That sounded like him. He never did anything outside his comfort zone and ended up hurting people because of it. He never left that job at Martin’s because he had it for four years and should’ve listened to his friends when they told him to leave.

Why was he so bad at this?

“Levi? Are you alright? You look sick.” Erwin said. He wasn’t wrong. Levi felt sick as well and wondered if it really showed that much on his face. 

He wasn’t going to cry. That wasn’t him. But he felt like bile was going to come up instead of tears. He took a breath leaned against the cool, leather couch. 

“Do you need me to get you something?” 

“No.” Levi slowly shook his head. 

“Do you want to go to the doctor?” 

“I’d rather not go back to the hospital so soon.” 

“Okay, but if this gets worse I’m taking you, alright?” 

“Fine... I should get some rest. You too. It’s Monday tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, it is. The college has canceled classes for the next three days and I’d like you to take those days to rest.” 

“Erwin, final exams are coming up and I need to study and call Daryl and see if he has anymore work-“

“You’re not going back to work for him.” Erwin said sternly.  
“You were being overworked and taken advantage of and that’s not okay. Once he pays you for your work, I’ll help you find a new job that would be lucky enough to have you as their employee.” 

Levi raised an eyebrow.  
“Oh really?” 

“Yes, really. You are a hard worker and deserve to work in a place that acknowledges that.” 

“I know that, but looking for a job as a college student isn’t as easy as it sounds. It doesn’t help that I don’t even look like a have any potential, but then they get to my background and makes it even harder to be hired. Daryl hired me because they needed extra waiters, and Martin... well, you know that story.” 

“Yes... I do... but-“

“Erwin, we can talk about this later... besides... you still have something to tell me. I mean, you already confesssed to me, but... are you gonna ask me out?” 

 

◇◇◇

 

When Levi woke up the next morning, he was still on the couch, but Erwin was gone. They had stayed up late talking about... their... status, but it still wasn’t clear. They seemed to both be too nervous to say anything to make it... official. Which Levi was kinda glad for. He’s honestly never been in a relationship and never felt that way about anyone... until Erwin. 

But still, he didn’t want to rush into anything right away. They both had enough on their plates at the moment and it was probably better to wait and reestablish before it was confirmed. 

“Morning.” 

Levi heard Erwin walk into the room and was surprised.

“I thought you left for work?” 

“I didn’t want to leave before you woke up.” He said, adjusting his tie. He really looked good in a suit.  
“Figured I’d give you a ride back to the campus so you could get your things while you stay here.” 

“Oh yeah. I guess I can’t stay on campus for a few days. I wonder when they dorms will be ready for living again.” 

“I guess you wouldn’t remember what happened there that made you leave, would you?” Erwin asked, putting his suit coat on. 

“No, but I promise I won’t run away this time.” Levi said sarcastically.

“I’d hope.” Erwin smiled.  
“I’ll have Mike pick you up once you pack what you need.” 

“Yeah...” Levi said, but suddenly felt like he was forgetting something, which he was... but it felt important. 

“You alright? Are you feeling sick again?” Erwin asked, concerned.

“No, no, I just... felt like a was about to remember something... jeez this is annoying.” He said, slumping back against the couch. 

“I’m sorry.” Erwin said, walking up to the back of the couch and leaned over to look at Levi.  
“Is there anything I can do to help?” 

There were those butterflies again. Erwin was so close and it took every ounce of willpower Levi had to not get lost in his eyes. 

“N-no... just, hope my memory will come back with time, you know?” 

“Of course.” Erwin smiled. 

“W-well, I should get ready. You have to get to work, don’t you?” 

“I’ll get there when I get there. Besides, we still need breakfast.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

They left and stopped for a quick breakfast before Mike dropped Erwin off at his office and took Levi to the college. It was been a pretty nice morning, but Levi still felt anxious about something. He was worried to get to the campus. 

“Where would you like me to park?” Mike asked, drawing Levi out of his thoughts. 

“Oh, uh, by the dorms are fine. They’re should be parking since there’s no school in today.” The storm caused a lot of chaos and destruction, but Levi could at least be thankful for there being no school until Thursday.  
Once they got there, the parking spaces by Levi’s dorm were almost all empty. His and the couple others around him were the only ones that were flooded. That much he remembered.

“I’ll be a couple of minutes. Thanks for giving me a ride.” Levi said to Mike.

“It’s no problem at all.” He said, then Levi walked to his dorm room and was surprised to see the door open. 

“Uh... what’s going on?” He asked when he walked in a saw a couple men pulling up the cheap and tattered carpet. That wasn’t as surprising since it did flood and probably had mold, but he was confused when he didn’t see any of the belongings. 

“We’re getting the rest of this damaged furniture and flooring up now. We just finished getting rid of everything else that was ruined.” One of the workers said. 

“B-but, this is my dorm. Where’s all my stuff?” Levi asked.

“Don’t know what to tell you, kid. We heard it was okay to throw everything that was damaged away. I’d talk to someone else if you wanna know what’s going on.” 

Was this it? Was this why he left in the first place? Was this what he was so anxious about?  
His insides hurt and he didn’t know what he was going to do. Why couldn’t he remember this?!

Did he go through this already. Did he know that everything he owned was ruined and now nothing but landfill? 

“Levi!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	17. Explanation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been Kuroko’s basketball and it’s really good. I just started season three last night. 
> 
> Also not looking forward to the next AOT episode. Just wondering how many non-manga readers are gonna be shocked when they see...

“Levi!” 

He heard the distinct voice in the distance and then the footsteps as Isabel ran over to Levi and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

“Oh my gosh, I was worried about you. Farlan didn’t tell me anything until this morning about what happened. Are you alright?” 

Levi was still in shock over what was happening, and Isabel was lucky she wasn’t immediately pushed off of him when she clung to him. His nerves were on edge. Not just because of what he walked into, but because he must’ve known this yesterday and there were no memories there.

“Levi? You look sick.” Isabel said,   
“Come on, let’s go inside.” 

Isabel led Levi to the mess hall and over to a table that was more secluded than the others. It was still pretty quiet since school was out for a couple days.

“Do you want something to eat?” She asked.

“No, I ate at Erwin’s.” He replied quietly. 

“Oh, Erwin... can you tell me who he is? Farlan hasn’t talked to me about what’s going on... so you have to tell me.” She said. 

Levi looked up to see an eager look on Isabel’s face. Most times it would’ve humored him by how curious she was about everything. But that’s when it wasn’t about him. And since what she wanted to know was about him, it irritated him that she wanted him to talk about it. 

“Come on, Levi~. Just tell me!” 

“No! Just-...” Levi shook his head and stood up.   
“Leave me alone. I don’t want to talk about.”

He went to walk away, but Isabel stood up to block him from leaving.

“Levi, I’m worried about you! No one will tell me anything! I came here looking for you to make sure you were okay and saw that they were emptying your dorm. Is that why you came to our place yesterday? And... did you leave because of Eren? Cause Levi, you can always stay with us! Really, it’s fine! We’ll make room. You can stay! Farlan was so worried about you and then your friend Erwin showed up at our place looking for you and he and Farlan went looking for you. He didn’t come home until really late and didn’t tell me anything about what happened to you.” 

Levi didn’t understand why Farlan was being so secretive to both him and Isabel over what happened. He could’ve just told both of them so he wouldn’t have to be told by Erwin or worry Isabel. What was his reason? 

“I went to Martin’s... but I don’t remember why.” He said, avoiding Isabel’s as he spoke. He knew how much she hated that he worked there, but keeping it a secret would only make her more worried. And Farlan was already hesitant about telling her. It was his mistake, so he should be the one to tell her. 

“I’ve... I’ve heard a lot about what’s happened the past two days... and kind of put the pieces together, that I guess I was trying to find a place to stay after I found out my dorm was flooded and all my stuff was gone... but I think after I went to your place and saw that your cousin was staying with I just... I must not have been thinking and went to Martin’s... I knew he’d let me stay at his place...” 

It was all making sense now that he was saying it out loud, but that didn’t make him feel any better. It made him more upset that he acted so irrational about this whole thing and where it got him... 

“But...” he continued...  
“I... don’t remember this much... but I think he tried to assault me... that’s when Farlan and Erwin showed up... they told me I passed out and I guess I forgot everything afterwards.” 

He still didn’t look at Isabel once he finished talking, but he sat back down and waited for her reaction.

“So... oh my gosh... you... you went to Martin’s? Why... Well... oh my gosh.” Isabel sat back down too and looked distraught.  
“Are you going to to report this?” 

“I don’t know. I’m sure Erwin is going to do something. He hasn’t said anything, but he seems like he already took action.” 

“Aw, is your boyfriend taking care you.” Isabel tried to be humorous even though she felt like puking after hearing what Levi said, but was surprised to see the panic on Levi’s face.

“How did you-“ 

‘Wait.’ He told himself, ‘there’s no way she knows... she was just teasing...’ 

“What? What do you mean, how did I- wait! Are you serious?!” 

‘Nope... she’s not an idiot... I wish she was.’ Levi thought when he saw the Isabel figured it out. 

“When?! Recently? Is that why you’ve been staying with him? Did he ask you? Did you say yes? Are you serious?!” 

“Shh! We’re not the only ones here!” Levi said. 

“Sorry! But, this is so great! Tell me everything!” 

“What? There’s nothing to tell. He’s just a friend from highschool.” 

“...yeah okay... but seriously. What are you now? Is this new?” 

Levi sighed. How was he supposed to answer a question that didn’t even have an answer. They talked... the second time where Levi didn’t freak out and leave... but was it true? Was it going to last? Was it even happening? 

There was way too much going on yesterday for Levi to confirm conversations and happenings, but just thinking about being with Erwin... it actually excited him more than scare him. 

“So~? Tell me!” Isabel said. 

“I don’t know. I think we talked about it, but there’s nothing else you need to know right now. I only saw him again for the first time in seven years, a couple days ago.” 

“Okay, but you’re staying with him aren’t you? Wow... you’re staying with a rich guy! What’s his place like?” 

“It’s normal, okay. Look, I know you’ve been worried and I told you what happened. I was only supposed to come here to pick up my things and go back to Erwin’s to rest.” 

“Alright, alright. I should probably go home too. Eren wanted to explore the town and Farlan has to work, so I said I’d go with him. But what about you? You don’t have anything.” 

“Oh, yeah... I guess I’ll make due until Daryl pays me and I can get some new stuff.” 

“You have some stuff at our place. You wanna come get it?” She asked. 

“I do have some stuff there, don’t I... I’ll ask Mike if we can stop there.” 

“Mike?” 

“The guy who drove me here. Oh, he’s still waiting! Come on.” 

Levi and Isabel come up to the dorms parking lot and saw Mike still sitting in the car. 

“Sorry! I went to get my stuff but it was too late. Yesterday I told them to throw everything out and forgot about it.” Levi said. 

“Do you have anything?” Mike asked.

“No, but I think I have a pair of clothes at Isabel and Farlans. Would it be alright if we stop there?” 

“Of course.” Mike said. 

“Is it alright if Isabel comes too? Or would Erwin-“

“Erwin would be fine with it. Come on now.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

“Is that all?” Isabel asked as Levi walked out of their guest room with a single plastic bag of clothes. 

“Yeah, it’s all I got for now. I’ll make due. I have some money still. That should be alright for now.”

“Maybe Mr.Rich Guy will buy you some presents.” 

“I’m not letting him do that. He’s already letting me stay for free.” 

“Okay, okay. I guess you gotta go now. Gotta curfew now.” She teased.

“Erwin just asked that I rest today.” 

“Okay, go rest. Me and Eren are going out.” 

“Have fun. Bye Eren.” Levi said to Eren, who was in the kitchen making some coffee. 

“Bye, Levi!” Eren said.

“Oh and tell Mike I’d be okay if he’d let me ride in the cool car again.” Isabel winked. 

Levi shook his head and chuckled.   
“You’re crazy. See you later.” 

“Bye! Good luck!” 

Levi left and got back in the car with Mike and they quietly rode back to the apartment. It was still in Levi’s mind how everything he owned was gone. It was no wonder he passed out and lost his memory with the amount of stress that was put on him yesterday. 

Not only that, he still had to study for the upcoming exams and get ready for graduation. And after that, a job and place to live.   
Thinking about that was tiring and Levi was relieved to see that they were finally back at Erwin’s. 

Mike escorted Levi up to the penthouse and told him that he was free to do whatever he wanted until Erwin got back. 

Levi took that opportunity to get some work done with the couple of school papers he had in his bag that he’s had on him for the past few days. 

Now all he had to do was wait for Erwin to get home... and that was actually exciting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	18. Outings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Mario voice* Here we go!

Levi and Mike got back to the penthouse around noon and Levi was told to make sure he ate. He knew Erwin probably told Mike to tell him that, but he Erwin would feel better knowing that Levi had eaten. Levi knew Erwin got worried when he didn’t.   
The least he could do was put Erwin at ease by eating. 

Levi spent the rest of the day studying and preparing for exams with the couple of things he had in his backpack. He also charged his phone so he could call Daryl and ask when he was getting paid so he could get some new things. 

He was grateful now that Erwin was letting him stay. He would’ve stayed with Farlan and Isabel and just slept on their couch if he had to, but he was glad Erwin was more than willing to offer him a place to stay. He just wished he thought about both of those options before resorting to Martin’s. His head was not in the right place that day. 

Around 6 is when he Levi heard knocking at his door and Erwin walked in. 

“Hey. Am I disturbing you?” Erwin asked. 

“Not at all. I’m just taking notes.” Levi replied.

“Do you have a minute? Or hour to join me for dinner? My treat.” 

“Well, since you offered.” Levi couldn’t help but smile at Erwin’s goofiness.   
“I hope you don’t plan on going anywhere too fancy. This is all I have to wear.” 

He was a little embarassed that he only had casual clothes. He preferred to wear higher class clothing, but he could never afford it, and any nice clothes he did own were destroyed and probably in the landfill by now. 

“What you’re wearing is fine, but I have a couple errands to run before we eat. Is that alright?” 

“You’re letting me stay with you and you’re treating me to dinner. We can run as many errands as you need and I won’t say a word.” 

“Alright, well meet me by the elevator in 15 minutes.” Erwin said, then closed the door, giving Levi only 15 minutes to get ready. 

As soon as the door shut, Levi scrambled to clean the area he was using at the desk, pull out the pair of clothes he had gotten from Farlan and Isabel’s place, hop in the shower and get cleaned up in 15 minutes.

Once he was finished, he was dressed in his off brand sneakers he’d been wearing this whole time, jeans, and a button up shirt. It was rare for his to wear t-shirts and Isabel always made fun of him for only wearing clothes that take too long to put on.   
He used the towel to dry his hair and used the comb from Erwin’s bathroom to make it look nice. 

Levi was dressing up for two reason.   
1: Erwin was probably going to go to a restaurant that was more his speed and that meant upper class.   
2: Levi also wanted to look nice for Erwin. 

He felt like he wanted to impress Erwin, which was why he was getting so frustrated that his hair wasn’t cooperating and his clothes didn’t seem right. 

With only 15 minutes, Levi didn’t feel as accomplished as he wanted to, but it was time to go so he quickly cleaned up and grabbed his phone before walking over to the elevator to wait for Erwin. 

He still couldn’t get over the fact that Erwin was a rich CEO of his fathers company and has a place where the front door is an elevator. It was nice to live in luxury when all Levi has known is trailers, motels, and a dorm. The fanciest place he’s ever stayed was Farlan and Isabels three bedroom apartment. 

Levi waited for only half a minute before he heard Erwin’s bedroom door open and his footsteps coming down the hall. His stomach was doing flips just thinking about seeing Erwin. Then the nervousness set in about Erwin about to see him. 

He probably looked stupid trying to dress nicely with what he had, but Erwin seemed surprised when he walked into the main room and saw Levi.

“Wow.” Erwin said. 

“What?” Levi replied, trying not to show how embarrassed he was.

“Nothing, just that... you look really nice.” 

“Oh, I... I just had this from my friends place. It’s nothing fancy.” 

“What, I am not allowed to say you look nice anyway?” Erwin teased. 

“How about we just go and run your errands and stop making small talk.” Levi said. 

“Small talk, complimenting your looks. Same thing I guess.” 

“Don’t be so cringey and talk like an old man. You’re only 25.” 

“I talk like an old man? How?” 

“You’re too formal. I mean, I could get you being professional while working, but it’s me. You can be more relaxed around me.” Levi explained and Erwin seemed to take his words into consideration.

“Okay, I understand. But will you be more relaxed around me if I do the same?” 

 

◇◇◇

 

The car ride to town was nice. It was a lot less hostile than the previous rides and wasn’t too long. It was when they stopped and went to a clothing store and Erwin telling Levi to pick out anything he wanted was when things got weird. 

“You said you had errands to run.” Levi said. 

“I do. We’re here for you.” Erwin said and Levi sighed.

“Why? I thought what I was wearing was fine.” He said, nervous now about feeling good when Erwin complimented him earlier.

“It is. I just wanted to get you a gift for helping at the banquet the other day.” Erwin said, but Levi saw through his lies. 

“Erwin.” 

It was now Erwin’s turn to sigh and he looked away as he scratched the back of his head. 

“Mike told me. He told me that everything you had was thrown out from flood damage.” 

“So?” Levi said with his arms crossed in front of his chest. 

“So I wanted to help you out a little bit. You shouldn’t have to live with two pairs and clothes and anything you had in your work bag.” 

Levi was glad they were in part of the store where almost no one was around. It was also pretty late and Erwin took him to a fancier clothing store that was already quiet, so they had to speak quietly as well. 

“I’m not broke. I still have some money and Daryl should be paying me soon. I texted him today and he said he’s getting it together to get out as paychecks. You’re already giving me a place to stay, Erwin. I don’t need this too.” 

“Levi, I know how you are and I knew I wouldn’t get you to agree to this if I told you so I tried to do it without you knowing why. That didn’t work but I still want to do this for you. You’ve been through a lot this weekend and I wanted to help put your mind at ease by doing this and taking you out to dinner. I mean, how could we be in a relationship if I didn’t take care of you like this?” 

“What?” 

Did Levi miss the memo? Were they in a relationship now? Since yesterday? The day before yesterday? We’re they together? Was it official? 

A million questions crossed Levi’s mind, so it helped that Erwin spoke first. 

“I mean, I thought it’s what we both wanted, but... is it too soon?” 

“No, Erwin, I... I’m just surprised... I didn’t really realize... I’m sorry... I’ve never been in a relationship before you know...” 

“Well... would it be okay if I showed you what it’s like? Or what it’s supposed to be like?” 

Levi got lost in the shine Erwin had in his eyes. There was a little mischief but a lot of sincerity that excited Levi.

“I-I...” Levi sighed again, but this time it was a happy sigh of defeat.  
“Sure.” 

“Good.” Erwin smiled,  
“Then we’ll start here and you will pick out what you want and not think of it as charity, a helping hand, or because I don’t think you dress nicely, because none of it’s true. I want you to think of it as me spoiling my new boyfriend.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

It took a while, but Levi finally warmed up to the idea of just letting things be and letting Erwin do this for him. They bought clothes, shoes, a new backpack, and a few things they spotted along the way that Erwin got for Levi anyway. 

He also tried to get Levi a new phone, but Levi used they excuse of it taking too long and that he was hungry for dinner so Erwin wouldn’t buy him anything else. At least for that day. 

The hungry excuse always worked for Erwin since he seemed to worried whenever Levi didn’t eat. It was strange. Levi didn’t remember that much from highschool, as he tried to not bring those memories back, but he wondered if Erwin was like this back in highschool. 

He remembered whenever Erwin tutored him he always brought Levi some fruit or a snack after Erwin started noticing Levi’s mood swings or change in behavior when he hasn’t eaten. Erwin discovered Levi’s blood sugar issue himself since Levi wasn’t the kind of person who talked about his own issues. 

Erwin was the kind of person Levi actually felt comfortable talking about that stuff with eventually. He felt like he could open up and it was nice. It was another reason Levi felt like he could see himself in a relationship with Erwin and was excited when they got to the restaurant.

It was their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	19. Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost forgot to post O.o   
> Anyway, here it is!

Erwin told Levi where he was taking him for dinner was a surprise. Levi wasn’t sure what that meant, but he felt that since he had new clothes, he could at least change to look a little nicer. But then he remembered Erwin’s face when he walked into the room right before they left the penthouse. It has Levi feel all warm and fuzzy inside, which was a very rare feeling for him to have. 

So he stayed in his clothes, but wanted to at least change his shoes to the nicer pair he got instead of the tennis shoes he was wearing. After that, they headed further into the more expensive part of the city. 

Levi didn’t ask questions and let Erwin do what he wanted, because Erwin seemed happier when Levi was happy. And Levi didn’t have too much of a problem going to someplace nice when all his life he’s barely made it by. The only issue was what had happened when Erwin took him out for lunch that day with Hanji and Moblit. 

He was dressed nicer this time, but people of his status were the workers. The waiters, the valets, someone that wasn’t coming in the restaurant to eat. 

He tried not to think about the run in with Nile, but being back at a nice place was bring to memory to his mind.

Mike dropped them off at the front and left after he and Erwin spoke while Levi waited. He couldn’t avoid the looks he felt like he was getting standing there. 

It was all in his head. There was no way these people could guess that Levi was out of place when he mostly fit the part... right. 

“You ready?” 

“Yeah, I’m starving.” Levi said.

“I’m glad to hear.” Erwin smiled. 

They entered the restaurant and one of the hosts’ led them up the stairs to the balcony where they were showed to a private table. 

“We got lucky that today’s a nice day.” Erwin said after thanking the host and sitting down. 

“No more bad storms hopefully. To much destruction for a May storm.” 

“I hope we managed to replace what was destroyed in your dorm.” Erwin said. 

“I have the essentials.” Levi shrugged.  
“You really didn’t have to do that though.” 

“I know, but I didn’t want you spending your entire paycheck on all new stuff when I’m here to do that for you.” 

Levi smirked at Erwin’s goofy smile.  
“You get away with it this time, but I’m still independent enough to do it on my own.” 

“Alright. Just this time... and maybe on special occasions... or whenever I feel like it. I know I can’t give you everything, but I can try.” 

“Yeah... some things are irreplaceable...” Levi said, ruining his own mood thinking about the box he had to throw out with stuff he had from his mother. 

“Like what? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

Levi chuckled.  
“You can ask.” He then sighed,  
“I just... I didn’t really care about anything that got ruined because I knew I could eventually replace it all and I didn’t think this really matter, but... I guess it’s bothering me more than I thought it was going to... and-“ 

He was cut off by the waiter coming by to ask if they wanted any wine or drinks. Erwin quickly answered then eagerly looked back to Levi for him to continue.   
It made Levi feel good that Erwin seemed so present when he spoke.   
“Sorry, you were saying.” 

“Oh, just that I had this box of my mothers things that I had to throw out after my dorm flooded, and I just kinda wished I took better care of it, you know.” 

“I’m so sorry.” Erwin said.

“It was my own fault.” Levi shrugged,  
“Like I said, I should’ve taken better care of it instead of keeping it all in a flimsy box. And it wasn’t everything. Just some pictures and letters. My uncle probably has more stuff, but I don’t really plan on seeing him again.” 

“So things never got any better with your uncle, huh?” Erwin asked. 

“As soon as I could move, I did. We didn’t leave things too unsettled, but I just needed to get out of there. We haven’t talked since then either. I don’t really care though. I don’t need him.” 

“Well, I see you’ve made friends in college. You were always really quiet. You have no idea how excited I was when you actually said yes to hanging out with me outside of school.” 

Levi was surprised by that. He didn’t really remember much from highschool, as he tried to block out any of those memories and move on with life. 

He did remember Erwin asking him if he wanted to go out for some food with Mike and Hanji when they were in highschool. Was Erwin really that excited when he said yes? 

“I mean, I can’t speak on your behalf, but even Hanji and Mike both said you seemed happier after we went out. I thought you needed a break from school for a little while. Do you remember?” Erwin asked. 

“I... We went to that coffee and tea shop, right? The one right off of Rose?” 

“Yeah, it was on the corner of Rose street. You ordered black tea and said it was the best tea you’ve had.” 

“Well, anything was better than what I was buying, but it was great. I really appreciate how much you took care of me in highschool. It made it not so bad.” 

“You know...” Erwin said, looking down at his clasped hands on the table.   
“I was afraid of leaving you when I graduated. I knew you could take care of yourself and you’d be fine, but I was afraid for me... I didn’t know what I was going to do. Those two years of getting to know you meant so much to me. It helped me as well getting to where I am in life. Of course I didn’t expect to take over for my dad so soon, but I feel capable and I’m glad I can do that for him.” 

“Wow,” Levi said, hoping his eyes weren’t too visibly wide.   
“I... wow...” 

“Sorry.” Erwin chuckled.  
“That was a bit much.” 

“No, no, I’m just... I’ve think I’ve always just seen you as someone who could do anything.” 

“Well, I have to admit, my senior year was rough. I was nervous about my next step in life as the next in line to my fathers company. I started tutoring to avoid going home so soon after school. I think I’ve had a crush on you from the moment I walked into the library on saw you waiting.” 

‘That long?!?!’ Levi thought, trying to hide how red his face was getting. 

“I knew it was crazy to ask you out, so I never did, but when I saw you again the other day, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you again... I didn’t think we’d get this far though.” Erwin smiled and reached across the table and took Levi’s hand. 

“I-I... This is so soon... but... you haven’t changed.” Levi said, trying to remind himself not to say anything embarrassing, but Erwin was making him say mushy, lovey words that he couldn’t make sense of.   
“I don’t want this to sound rude or anything, but I think that’s why it’s so... easy for me to reconnect with you and... why I agreed to this, because you know...” 

“Your wine.” The waiter said, stopping Levi from finishing his sentence. Erwin seemed disappointed that they couldn’t finish their conversation, but Levi smirked and pulled his hand away. 

“How about I tell you after dinner?” He said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	20. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a day late (I was on my way to my grandpa’s and his wife’s house for the holiday and didn’t have service till I got there) but here it is! 
> 
> Also, happy 4th of July to those who celebrate!

Dinner was lovely. There was soft music playing in the background, the service was amazing, the view of the sunset from the balcony was gorgeous, and the food was divine. But most importantly was the man Levi got to share it all with. 

They had some light conversation while they ate and stayed almost until closing before they finally left. Mike was waiting for them at the entrance to take them home. 

It was a couple minutes into the peacefully quiet car ride that Levi felt a wave of anxiousness fall over him when he remembered that he had something to tell Erwin when they got back.   
Even if Erwin has forgotten about it, he still needed to tell him. It was important if they wanted to be together. 

“Are you alright? You look a little pale. Was it the food?” Erwin asked. 

Erwin had been worried about Levi from the moment Levi rejected a glass of wine. Levi assumed Erwin was trying to do everything he could to make Levi comfortable and enjoy himself. It was quite funny to Levi.

He didn’t need Erwin to impress him with buying him fancy dinners and wine. He liked Erwin how he was. 

“I’m fine, really. Thank you again for tonight.” Levi smiled. 

Erwin smiled in return.   
“Of course.” 

That eased a little of Levi’s worry for the rest of the car ride and when they got back, Mike helped them bring up all the stuff Erwin bought for Levi before leaving for the night. They were then alone.

“Would you like some tea, Levi?” Erwin asked, wandering into the open kitchen. 

“Sure... and uh... after that I kind of wanted to finish what we were talking about at dinner... if that’s alright with you and... probably explain the drinking thing...” 

“Yeah... yeah, of course. I’ll listen to anything you want me to hear.” Erwin said, directing his attention to Levi as he spoke to him. 

“Good... good.” Levi said. He was starting to feel embarrassed this whole thing and looked at the ground to avoid Erwin’s gaze. How could he be so calm about everything while Levi was over here feeling like he wanted to just run away.  
“Well... I... I’m going to go change then.”

“Alright.” Erwin smiled,  
“I’ll finish the tea.” 

Levi slinked past the kitchen and into the hallway towards his room where they had left the several bags of clothes and items from their shopping spree.

He now had more suitable clothes for sleeping, working and just general outings. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t grateful for all of this.

Once he changed he took a couple minutes to sort all his clothes and organize his new belongings. He needed to do it anyway... but he knew he was also procrastinating

‘Okay! You’re done! You need to go back out there!’ He told himself as he was standing by his door, hesitating to open it.

When he finally opened the door and walked back onto the kitchen, Erwin was nowhere to be seen. The kettle was still on the stove so he wondered where Erwin went.

“Erwin?” He called out.

“In here!” He heard Erwin from the hallway on the right side of the kitchen past the dining room. 

He walked past several doors like the ones in the hallway where his temporary bedroom was, and walked to the open door at the end of it. 

“I was wondering where-“ 

“Oh, sorry, I decided to change as well while I waited for the water to heat up.” Erwin said, but Levi looked away as he saw that Erwin was changing into sleepwear as well. 

“Y-yeah I- n-no it’s fine. Really.” Levi said. 

Levi continued to stare at the floor instead of Erwin’s... very toned body. He knew Erwin did weight training in highschool with Mike, but was surprised to see that he kept in such good shape, not just the average workout to keep extra weight off. 

Levi didn’t even hear the kettle start to whistle as he was still stuck in his head after seeing Erwin’s body, but the tall blond heard it and went out to pour the tea. 

“I’ll be right back, you can stay there. Make yourself comfortable.” 

...okay... Erwin told Levi to stay... and make himself comfortable... in... Erwin’s bedroom. Wait. Was Erwin telling Levi to get comfortable as in... comfortable?

No! No way! Erwin wasn’t that kind of guy! He knew that! But... his anxiety was making up all these scenarios that made him think otherwise. 

Okay. Stop. Think. 

‘You’re in Erwin’s room... just... take a look around. You’ve never seen Erwin’s room. What does it look like?’

His room was in the corner of the building and had two floor to ceiling glass walls. He had a large bed on the left side of the door and last that were two doors that Levi assumed to be the closest and bathroom. 

The room didn’t seem to have a lot of... personality. It was very simple, like the rest of the pent house, which was surprising. 

Levi could see why everything else was so black and white, but he assumed Erwin’s bedroom would at least have some pictures of family or friends or maybe some of his favorite books lying around.

“I’m back. I brought drinks.” Erwin said, startling Levi enough to make the younger jolt, making Erwin lightly chuckle.  
“Sorry didn’t meant to spook you.” 

“I-it’s alright. Just lost in thought. You’re room is very... um...”   
Being lost for words was a little embarrassing, but Erwin seemed to know what he was saying. 

“Yeah, I moved in just a couple of months ago and I haven’t really done any decorating of my own. It was all done by a designer and I just left it how it was.” Erwin explained, setting the two cups of tea on his nightstand and taking a seat on his bed. 

“It’s nice though. It’s very...” Levi sighed,  
“I’m sorry. I’m stalling at this point.” He said, looking down at the floor.   
“It’s about me. What I wanted to talk about... it’s just, with us I feel like you should know that you might not want to do this after I tell you this thing about me and I-“ 

“Levi.” Erwin said, reaching out to take Levi’s hand.  
“You’re saying a lot of words really fast and I don’t think I quite understand.” Erwin said with a soft smile and chuckle.   
“Come here.” He said, pulling Levi over to sit next to him. 

Levi let out a breath let himself be settled before he spoke again. Erwin’s soft voice and calm demeanor also played a part in relaxing Levi’s mind. 

“Okay... so are we... a thing?” Levi started by asking a super awkward question. 

“I mean, I would like to think so. It that alright with you though?” Erwin asked.

“Y-yeah, it is. It’s just... the thing I wanted to tell you is that... if we are together... then you should know that I’ve... never been in a relationship and don’t really know... how it all works.” Levi explained.  
“I’ve never done... anything.” 

“Like... nothing?” Erwin asked.

“Like I’m not just a virgin. I’m an extra virgin.” He said and Erwin laughed at the way he described himself. 

“And what is that supposed to mean, exactly?” Erwin asked. He knew this was a serious moment for Levi, but was surprised to see the way Levi stilled made the situation a little less awkward with some humor. 

“It means that I’ve never had sex, a first kiss, or been in any sort of relationship. The closest I’ve ever came to any of that was... I guess when I went to Martin’s. Which was the biggest mistake I ever made.” 

“Do you... remember?” Erwin asked.

Levi shrugged.  
“I think so. It’s not very clear, but I hate that I went there in the first place... I was so stupid that I let myself freak out and over something so... simple. You didn’t do anything but tell me how you felt and I... I just freaked out and that’s why I wanted to tell you all of this. So you... would know...” 

Erwin was quiet for a couple of moments and Levi wasn’t sure if he was angry or was regretting the decision to be with him. 

“Levi.” 

Here it comes. Here’s where Erwin tells Levi to leave and never come back for being the way he was. 

“I love you,” 

‘But I don’t think this will work’ Levi told himself.

“I love you despite all of that. Everything you told me is what make you, you. And I love everything about you. So... if it’s alright with you,” Erwin said, reaching out to take Levi’s hand again.  
“I’d really love to be with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


	21. Ease

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t realize how few chapters I have left!

Levi didn’t remember falling asleep. He remembered sitting on Erwin’s bed, drinking tea as the two talked most of the night. He remembered the light rainstorm that rolled in and watched the rain cascade down the large windows that overlooked the city.   
But he didn’t remember falling asleep... falling asleep... on top of Erwin.

He was laying on Erwin’s chest - his head on his shoulder. Erwin had his arms around Levi as well and they were both covered with his blanket. 

He slowly moved, careful to make sure he didn’t wake up Erwin, who was still asleep. Levi carefully moved Erwin’s arms and sat up. He looked out the window and saw that the sun had barely even risen. It was still early. 

Now that he was up... he didn’t know what to do. He could honestly say he was disappointed that he got up. He was so warm and comfortable with Erwin. Why did he have to get up?! 

You know what... Erwin was his...boyfriend... his boyfriend. His boyfriend... who wouldn’t mind if Levi laid back down with him. Right? 

‘Get out of your head! Just do it!’ He scolded himself, then laid back down on Erwin’s chest, holding his breath, hoping he wouldn’t wake the older.

After a couple seconds of being impossibly still, Levi got into a more comfortable position and just rested. Erwin hadn’t moved and Levi eventually fell back asleep. 

 

The next time he woke up wasn’t as exciting, as the bed was now empty and the sun was completely risen. No sunrise and no warmth from Erwin. He was disappointed to say the least, but he got some much needed sleep. Classes would be starting back again in a day or two and it was going to get hectic with final exams and graduation, so he enjoyed what was probably his last night of a full rest.

Levi didn’t see or hear Erwin and either assumed he was in another room or at work. He got up to figure out which it was.

Levi walked out of the room and down the hallway to the kitchen, where he found a plate of food and a note, indicating that Erwin was at work.

 

~I wanted to let you sleep, so I made you food before I left. I hope you have a good day and I look forward to seeing you tonight♡~

 

Levi didn’t know Erwin could be so sappy... but it was cute. He was looking forward to seeing Erwin tonight, even though that meant having to tell him that he’d be really busy with finals and had to focus on that. But for now, he decided to eat, get dressed, and go take care of some of his own business. 

 

◇◇◇

 

“Hey. Is Daryl here?” 

“In the back.” 

Levi wasn’t usually like this, but he needed to stand up to Daryl. He went to get his money and to tell Daryl that he quit. 

They were mostly a catering business, but they did have a little store for small orders and storage. Levi was lucky Daryl was working today. 

He also took the time to put on the nicer clothes Erwin bought him yesterday. He wasn’t trying to show off that he had money now since it wasn’t true... but Daryl didn’t need to know that.

Erwin wanted Levi to quit anyway, so it didn’t really matter how he did it. 

“Daryl.” Levi said. The man was in the middle of getting ready for for another job.

“Oh good. I need to learn to keep your cellphone on you. I’ve called you several times to tell you to get down here. We have another job-“

“I’m quitting. I’m just here for my money from the other day.” 

Daryl stopped what he was doing and turned to Levi, then told everyone else in the room to give them a minute. 

Levi felt nervous now that it was just the two of them, but he didn’t let himself waver. He needed to stay composed. 

“What, you put on some fancy clothes to come down here and say you quit, yet expect money after the shit job you did the other day?” Daryl sneered.

“I did a job, I deserve to get paid, and you will do that.”

“Or what? You gonna report me?” 

“Maybe I will.” Levi said, trying to keep his voice steady.   
“I did a job that I wasn’t even supposed to be doing, along with serving more tables than a single person can handle, and you’ve underpaid me for two years as a waiter when I could’ve been helping in the kitchen, like you said I’d get to.”

Daryl looked long and hard at Levi, as if trying to figure out what to do. Levi spoke first.

“Now... I’m giving you the opportunity to pay me from the other day, or I will take this to court.” He wasn’t really going to do that, but the scare tactic seemed to work.

“Fine.” Daryl spat, then walked towards his very small office and wrote Levi a check.  
“Here. And I don’t want to see you back here.” 

“Thank you.” Levi said, taking the check and looking at making sure everything was written out as it should be.   
“And thank you for the job.” 

“Whatever. Get outta here kid. I told you I gotta find someone to work tonight.” Daryl said, walking away from Levi.

“Well... I wish you well. Bye Daryl.” 

 

◇◇◇

 

Well, that was done and Levi honestly felt really good about it. He now even had $500 extra in his account down that he cashed his check and could official say he was done working for both Martin and Daryl... so now he was unemployed. Damn...

What to do... he didn’t want to... but he knew he should talk to Erwin about this. Erwin wanted him to quit anyway and he was sure Erwin would say yes to supporting him, but Levi didn’t want to be like that. He still had a dream of being and chef and was almost done with school. 

That was it. As soon as he was done with school, he’d get a job and pay back Erwin and pay for himself. Find a place to live on his own where he didn’t need Erwin to support him. Not that he really mind anymore. 

When he thought about it, living with Erwin was nice. He could get used to waking up with Erwin. Of course, that’s if Erwin wanted. 

This whole thing back and forth was distracting Levi from what he was doing and saw that he was almost to Erwin’s building. That’s when he decided that tonight he would make dinner for Erwin and talk about their situation and what the plans for the future were. 

That idea made him slightly giddy and was excited for the night. So when he reached Erwin’s building he was thinking about what he would cook and what to say, but little did he know that he was being watched when he went inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment what you think (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)


End file.
